Sound of a Jinchuuriki
by Foxcomm
Summary: Fruits are yucky," Naruto said. "Naruto, you have to eat your fruits," Sarutobi told him. Who knew he would regret those words so quickly when the 3 year old got up and ate the Oto Oto Fruit Jiriaya brought. X-over One Piece. Complete YugitoXnaruXHina
1. Chapter 1

Sarutobi finished the day's paperwork and held up his stamp with a sadistic grin on his face. "Now, you die!" He slammed the stamp down and it thundered through the Hokage tower. He gave a content sigh. A three year old Naruto was playing on the floor and he giggled.

"Don't worry, Jii-san. When I become Hokage, I will stop all the evil paperwork," the child said. Sarutobi laughed. He was the one that took care of Naruto the most. No one hurt him. But no one paid attention to him either. So, naturally, he became the person Naruto looked up to the most. Eventually, that included becoming Hokage.

"Ah, but then, who will the Hokage fight then," Sarutobi asked. Naruto spent enough time with him that he understood it wasn't always life and death. In fact, he understood, that for the most part, it never was.

"Me," Naruto said cheerfully. Sarutobi just chuckled. The words of a three year old was all it ever took to make his day. No matter that there can only be one Hokage at any one time.

"Sir," his aid said as she poked her head in the door. She gave Naruto a smile before turning back to the Hokage. "Jiriaya-sama has returned and he said he has found something that will make the village more powerful."

"Send him in. Before you do, make sure you take these. Last time, he knocked them over." Naruto began to laugh out loud when he remembered that day.

"Grand uncle is back," Naruto cheered when the man stepped in the door. Jiriaya just grinned as he continued to walk with the little rug rat attached to his leg.

"Hey, I got something really impressive this time."

Sarutobi looked down at Naruto for a moment and said, "The next issue of your books?"

"No... Actually, I brought that as well. Along with my first book to give to Naruto. But what I brought is much more exciting than my books!" He took out a scroll and unsealed the chest inside. He opened it to reveal...a bright yellow fruit with swirls on it. "I give you the Devil Fruit of the Pirate ocean a world away."

"Fruits are yucky," Naruto said.

"Now Naruto," Sarutobi said in a scolding tone. "I told you before, if you want to become Hokage, you have to eat both your fruits and your vegetables."

"I have to?" He made a pleading face that almost made the aged ninja give.

"Yes, you have to," he told him. Naruto sighed as let go of Jiriaya's leg.

The two adults turned back to the fruit between them. "These are actually very rare," Jiriaya said. "And they give the person that eats them a special power."

"But all things comes at a price," Sarutobi said.

"And so do these. Any person that eats these can't swim. And considering they only grow in an island chain, that can be bad."

"What else do you know about them?"

"They may very well be the origin of bloodline abilities. The tree that grows them only makes them once every hundred years, or so the legend goes. And there is three general types. One give a person the ability to change shape into a single animal. Another changes their body in some way. The last gives them control of an element and it's forms."

"Like what," Sarutobi asked. Neither noticed a chair being moved.

"Well, I heard rumors of someone that ate the second one. His body had turned into rubber. He can stretch, expand, and several other things. This class of fruit also gave him incredible strength."

"That sounds cool," Naruto said.

"It does," Sarutobi said. "And the elemental ones?"

"Well, the same man's brother ate one that gave him control of fire. He could produce it without any source. The stories I have heard are amazing."

Jiriaya looked at the fruit in his hands and set it down on the desk. "This is the only one I could find. And I don't know if it will make the trees here. But if the seeds inside it do take..."

"It will give us a strength unlike any other village," Sarutobi summed up.

"I knew fruits are yucky," Naruto said. "Why couldn't they make a fruit that taste like ramen?" The sound of chewing reached their ears along with another bite.

Both went wide eyed and they dropped their heads. To see Naruto sitting on the desk, slowly devouring the fruit. Naruto opened his mouth after he did and pulled out the pit. He set it on the desk before continuing. Jiriaya laughed after a bit. "You did tell him to eat all of his fruits."

Sarutobi placed a hand on his face and pulled it down. "Naruto, that fruit wasn't your's."

"Oh," the child said. "...Do I have to finish it like Baa-chan tells me to then?"

Jiriaya smiled. "No, you ate quite enough of that yucky fruit. And thank you for getting the pit for me."

Naruto beamed, "Your welcome! Future Hokage have to help people after all!"

"So, I don't suppose you know what ability he just gained, do you?" Naruto started stuttering, meaning he was about to sneeze.

"That one was the..." Naruto sneezed and the sound blasted out the windows and forced them to cover their ears. Naruto couldn't though and he was on the ground, dizzy. "The Oto Oto Fruit. It give the person control over sound. I don't know the full abilities. But it has to do with their voice altering it."

The Hokage's aid opened the door. "Jiriaya-sama, what did you do this time?" The two men pointed to the child on the floor. This only made her outraged. "How dare you blame an innocent child for something you did! Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves! And what did you do to him!?"

"Rin, I swear..." Sarutobi started.

"Shut up! I don't want to hear your excuses!" She stepped over to Naruto and picked him up. "Come one, Naruto, we are taking out to go play with kids your own age. We are going to the water park."

"Okay," Naruto said, still a little dizzy but with a huge smile on his face. Though both of them knew it was from the attention, it looked like it was caused by where she was holding him. Close to her chest.

"Wow..." Jiriaya said. "I never thought I would be jealous of the kid... She doesn't know he can't swim now."

—oo000oo—

Naruto went down the water slide ahead of Rin-chan, laughing. They reached the bottom and Rin picked him up and put him on his shoulders. "So, where do you want to go next, Naruto?"

"Hmm... The Drop!" That was the his favorite. A person got on it and went both up and down hill before being shot out and falling into a pool ten feet deep. Of course, he wasn't big enough to go alone yet. But Rin-chan could take him.

"Okay." They got in line and quickly got in the slide. "WHOA," they both yelled as the water pushed them down and back up. "AH!" As quickly as they got on it, it was over and they were falling through the air. Naruto couldn't hold his laughter as he held on to Rin-chan. They hit the water and she swam to the shallow end.

"Rin-san," a messenger appeared. "I need to give you a message from the Hokage!"

Rin set him on the stairs out of the pool. "Now stay close to here, okay?"

Naruto grinned widely. "Okay!"

Rin walked up to the man, wearing a two piece the same color as her tattoos. "So, what is it?"

"Naruto ate a fruit that gave him the ability to control sound. But it took away his ability to float." The man said. "That is the sound you heard."

"Is it? I guess I better get Naruto to the play ground then." They turned back to him just in time to see an older boy running by and hit Naruto. He fell off the stairs into the deeper water and sunk like a rock. He tried to swim back up but couldn't. He was so scared, he didn't even think about just climbing back up the stairs. "NARUTO!" She jumped in and lifted him out. "I'm so sorry Naruto, this is my fault! Are you okay?"

He coughed the water from his lungs. "It's alright Rin-chan. I am fine, see? But why couldn't I swim?"

She hugged him close. "I'm afraid you lost the ability to, Naruto. That fruit you ate gave you something and took it away from you."

"...So if I finish eating it then I should get it back," Naruto reasoned. After all, a fruit could only keep something inside it like the pit was inside.

"No, Naruto, it is gone for good."

"Oh," Naruto just said. From his bewildered expression, he didn't understand. Nor did he understand just how close he came to dying.

—oo000oo—

An eight year old Naruto stretched. Training was over with today so he could relax. Ever since he almost drowned in the pool, Rin-chan told him she would train him to use chakra. Because then, he could use it to not only replace his lost ability to swim, he could walk atop it. He didn't believe her at first but she showed him. The hard part was finding water deep enough to practice on but so deep should he fall through, he couldn't stand up and have air.

He was at the park now, playing. "Hey...you're an Uchiha, aren't you," Naruto asked.

"I am."

"That is so cool," Naruto said. "Jii-san told me your clan is very strong."

The spiky headed boy grinned, his pride showing. "Well, we are a little."

"A little!? Your family make up the Military Police, you are so strong. I wish I had a family..."

"Like that," the boy finished for him.

"Yeah...but I would settle for any family, truthfully."

"You don't have one," the boy asked.

"No, Jii-san isn't even my Jii-san. I just call him that because the Hokage is the one that takes care of me the most."

"You call the Hokage Jii-san," he asked amazed.

"Yeah," Naruto said. "I'm Naruto."

"Sasuke. Uh, do you want to be friends? No one else here will be. I think they are intimidated by my clan."

Naruto grinned ear to ear. "SURE!"

"Hey, keep it down," a bigger kid said, moving up to them. He was clearly the park bully. "Or do I need to beat some sense into you?"

The lessons from Rin-chan came up right then. _'Naruto, you can't use your abilities to hurt people. At least not until you become a ninja. And never do it to anyone of the village unless they attack you first.'_

"No, that isn't needed," Naruto said, backing away. "Let's go, he said to Sasuke.

"Wait, I know you," the bully said. "You are one of those Uchiha, aren't you?"

"What if I am," Sasuke demanded.

The bully looked at him and grinned. "Well, well. Here we have the mighty Uchiha, all alone and weak. Go ahead and run away with your friend. With your tail between your legs."

Naruto twitched at that comment but let it go. "Let's just go, Sasuke."

"You shut up about my clan," Sasuke yelled at the bully.

"Little cry baby going to do something about it?"

"Ragh!" Sasuke swung a fist at him. The bully accepted it and hit him in the face. Sasuke fell to the ground. Before he could get back up, the bully kicked him in the stomach.

"Leave him alone," Naruto yelled, throwing himself at him.

The bully pushed him away and turned on him. "Perhaps you want me to do the same to you?" He raised a fist.

"_ENOUGH!"_ It was so loud, it knocked the bully on his back. He tried to get up but fell back down, his eardrums had been popped. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand, pulled him up, and they started running.

—oo000oo—

"What was that?"

"..." Naruto hesitated. He didn't want to lie to his new friend but Jii-chan told him to if ever someone found out about it. "My bloodline. I control sounds. Listen to this." He opened his mouth, clapped his hands, and they sounded like a drum. "Cool, huh?"

"You already have your bloodline," Sasuke asked amazed. "That is _cool!_ I wish I had mine already. Then my father will say that I am strong because I am his son more often."

"You are looking to be acknowledged?"

"Yeah. My big brother is eight but he is already an ANBU."

"...Hmm, an Uchiha ANBU? ...Oh, Weasel! You mean weasel, right?"

"You know Itachi?"

"We met. He told me about you. He said that he was very proud of you. And that he wished he didn't have to become an ANBU like his father told him so he could spend time with you."

"He...actually said that?"

"He did. Your father is Fugaku, right?" Sasuke nodded. "That is him!"

Sasuke couldn't help but grin. "I can't wait to tell mom!" He looked around, "There she is!" The woman in question was sitting on a bench, humming to herself and rubbing her stomach.

As they ran to her, Naruto asked, "Why is she doing that?"

"I don't know," Sasuke replied. "Mom! Guess what, I made a friend! And he knows Itachi!" She smiled at first but grew grim when she heard the second part. Her children were growing a strong rivalry. At times, it seemed that Sasuke hated Itachi. But the look on his face said anything but that.

"I do, Misses Uchiha," he said with a bow.

"And Naruto said that Itachi said he wished he wasn't in ANBU so he could spend more time with me! Is that why he is always gone?"

"Yes he is," Mikoto said. She smiled, happy for her son. "You didn't think he hated you, did you? After all, you are his favorite brother."

"But I'm his only brother."

She rubbed her stomach again. "Maybe not for long," Mikoto said to herself.

"Oh, and Naruto has a bloodline ability he just used to help me!"

She snapped her attention up. "What?"

"This bully was insulting our clan and I lost my temper," Sasuke said, dropping his head. "He punched me and had me on the ground. Naruto tried to stop him but was punched himself. And when the bully was going to do more, he yelled. He was thrown to the ground and Naruto grabbed me and started running."

"Wow, it looks like you are a little hero," Mikoto said to Naruto.

"But Rin-sensei told me not to use it," Naruto said, his eyes down cast.

"Hmm, I'll keep you from getting in trouble with your sensei. Where is she?"

"She is helping the Jii-san with his work right now," he said.

"And where do they work at," she asked kindly. He pointed to the top of the Hokage tower. After a moment, it hit her. He was _that_ Naruto. "Hmm... Let's go talk to them."

—oo000oo—

"Itachi, why?"

"...You were going to betray my home, Father."

"But we are your family," Fugaku said. His back was turned to his eldest son and he wasn't going to look at him.

"...No, Sasuke is my family. You are simply the man that raised me. Tell me, where is mother?"

"...She took Sasuke to the park outside the Uchiha grounds. I was so against that. But she wouldn't listen to me. Now I see it is what saved her. My Mikoto..." Itachi's blade descended and killed him. But despite the act he had just done, he was glad. He did love his mother. So he was glad her blood was not also on his blade and hands.

He turned and left. He had done what they asked. Now to make sure they would leave his family alone as well.

—oo000oo—

"Jii-san," Naruto yelled as he entered.

"OUCH! Naruto, how many times do I have to tell you, don't yell in my office! You are going to make me go deaf!"

"Sorry," he said, little more than a whisper. "Misses Uchiha wanted to talk to you and Rin-chan."

"Send them in then."

Naruto backed out the door and, still speaking in a the same voice, said "Rin-chan, Lady Uchiha, Jii-san would like to talk to you now."

Rin came in, laughing like she always did when Naruto spoke like this, followed by Mikoto. "Naruto, is something wrong?"

"I shouted too loud and hurt Jii-san," Naruto whispered.

"Alright, Naruto, you can stop the whispering," Sarutobi said. "Now, go wait outside."

"Okay," Naruto said.

—oo000oo—

He was about to head over when he saw Weasel in the hall. Wanting to surprise him, he motioned Sasuke over to him and they followed him. But they weren't able to catch him before he went into the council meeting room. So the waited on either side of the door. The door was just a little ajar so Naruto could hear them talking. Grinning, he opened his mouth and the voices became loud enough for the two to hear and understand, but no one else could.

"...Finish," Itachi said.

"You have our thanks, Itachi," a voice Naruto recognized as Danzou said.

"With their threat gone," Koharu said, "the village is safe again."

"We apologize for we asked you," Homura finished their speech with. Killing you clan must not have been easy"

Sasuke cried out but there was no sound. Naruto tackled him to keep him from doing anything stupid. "It...was necessary," Itachi said. "The coup they were planning may have likely destroyed our village. If nothing else, weakened it to a point it will never recover from."

"And now, you are the last Uchiha," Danzou said.

"You are mistaken," Itachi told him. "There are two more. My mother and little brother were not there. Nor will I hunt them down. Neither will you."

"WHAT," the council demanded.

"My family will remain alive and unharmed. Because if they don't, I will not hesitate in revealing it was by your order the Uchiha clan died. And every single weakness to the clans, all of them that I know of, I will give to Iwa. They have been looking for the advantage they need to finish the fight with Konoha. And I know quite a lot."

"Your mother I could understand," Homura said. "But your brother? He could easily become a threat to the village. That is why you agreed to help us in the first place, to save Konoha."

"...As much as I love this village, I love my brother more. I will never be the one to strike him down. And neither shall you." The sound of him turning around and taking a step to the door made Naruto panic. Pulling Sasuke behind him, he ran away from the door. It would not be odd if Itachi saw him in the Tower. With Sasuke could be explained as well. But he would not like it if they saw him there at that door.

The ANBU wearing the weasel mask stepped out and started to leave. And he saw Naruto wrestling with his brother just thirty feet away. He smiled behind his mask as he walked over. "Hey Naruto."

"Oh, hi Weasel. Come to get a new mission from Jii-san?"

"No. ...Not going to say something, Sasuke?"

He opened his mouth and moved it like he was shouting but no sound came out. "We made a bet, Weasel-san. I told him I could keep him quiet without touching him and he didn't believe me. Now He is trying to get me to release him."

Weasel laughed. Naruto had done the same to him. "Well, you two have fun." He turned to leave but stopped when Sasuke grabbed his pants leg. "Something you want to ask, Sasuke?"

He had a looked that said he was scared, confused, and, if the glare he gave Naruto was a sign, mad. But then he did what showed Itachi what he wanted to ask the most. He glanced at the council door. And Itachi doubted it was to ask what he was there for.

"Naruto...release my brother."

Now, Naruto looked scared. "Please, we promise we won't say a thing. Just don't hurt us." Itachi sighed, they had heard. He took them into meeting room with glass walls. Closing the door behind him, he cast a privacy jutsu while telling Naruto again to release him.

"WHY!?"

"You heard right? Our father was going to betray our village. I couldn't let him."

"No..." For the longest moment he didn't finish and Itachi thought he meant it as he didn't believe him. "Mother and I are right here. You could finish it easily. So why spare us?"

"Because of what I said. I love the both of you. Yes, if mother was there, she might have died as well if she tried to protect father. But I had already planned to leave you alive. You are... You are my brother and I care for you more than you know. I was planning on lying to you. Telling you that I faked it all. To see if you might get powerful. So that you would hate me. But since you know the full story, it wouldn't take you long to see that as the lie it is."

"There had to be some other way," Naruto said.

Itachi shook his head. "Naruto, sometimes...words are just not enough. So people are just too headstrong against reason. When you are Hokage, you will see this. And before you ask, no, the Hokage had nothing to do with this. He never knew.

"Now, I have something I must ask of you. Tell no one of this."

"But you were following orders," Sasuke said. Itachi was still his brother and Sasuke still cared for him.

Itachi took off his mask and smiled at Sasuke. "...Poke" He poked Sasuke on the forehead again.

"HEY," Sasuke yelled, rubbing the spot.

"Sasuke, who knows what those three might do if revealed. They will have no honor left and will likely commit suicide. But Danzou...that old war dog, he cares for this village in his own way. And does what he can to protect it. The other two I don't worry about. But him, he might try something. Do you two understand?"

"No," they said truthfully.

"I know this is confusing. But it is to protect you two. Now, Sasuke, remember that this village has given a lot to protect all that live inside it. Protect it in return."

"Okay," Sasuke said as the tears he was holding back finally spilled over. "You are going to leave, aren't you nii-san?"

"Yes. I have to. Now, the only person that you are allowed to tell is mom, Sasuke. Not even the Hokage can know." He knelt down and hugged his brother. After several moments, he let go and stood back up. Then he ruffled Naruto's hair. "See ya, runt." Smiling, he put his mask back on and walked away.

—oo000oo—

"Lady Uchiha, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit," Sarutobi asked.

"I came to ask about Naruto's bloodline," Mikoto said. "You see, a bully was picking on my son Sasuke when Naruto defended him. It wasn't until he received a few hits himself that he shouted, knocking the boy down. And he was very much afraid he would be in trouble."

Rin sighed. "I told him not to use it. We both know what is inside him. I was afraid people might think that it was the fox that gave him his abilities."

"But they aren't. I saw the fight myself. The Nine Tails was loud, but nothing compared to what I heard. And I was on the other side of the park. The boy must have lost hearing for a few minutes at least."

"But you are sensible, Mikoto," Sarutobi told her. "Not many are the same. They leave Naruto alone because of my law only. Luckily, the council is not so stupid as to believe the Fourth could not seal something away. Even if that something is the Nine tails."

"...Such an ability, I am sure several clans would be willing to take him in for it."

"If that was all, then yes," Rin said. "But there is more. Naruto can't swim. It is like it is not there for him. He moves through it like air. I don't know if this will be passed down to his children or not. But would you like your family to be unable to do such a simple act?"

"I see."

"When finally the implications of this hit Naruto when it activated, he cried for a week. He loves the water. To not be able to... But that is why I am training him to use chakra to replace his lost ability."

"...Hokage-sama, why has no one ever adopted Naruto? I am sure there are some that do not look on him like he is the fox."

"There are. But his godfather doesn't want him to be adopted. He has spent the weeks on end with Naruto whenever he can and views him like a son."

"...Who is his godfather? I'm sure if I talk to him, he will allow someone to."

Sarutobi smiled. "My apprentice, Jiriaya."

"The legendary Sannin," she said slowly. "He cares for Naruto?"

"That is why an orphan does not live in the orphanage. And he was Naruto's sponsor into the Academy. He loves Naruto. Along with myself and Rin here. Naruto is not as alone as you may think. Except when it comes to friends. Parents often keep their kids from playing with him."

"...Then I guess it is a good thing that Naruto became friends with Sasuke today. I..."

"Hokage-sama," a chunin said, opening the door. "I apologize for the intrusion but it is an emergency! The Uchiha clan has been murdered!"

"Oh my god...Sasuke!" Mikoto ran out and saw Sasuke there with Naruto, already crying. She wrapped her arms around her son and held him while he let out the tears. "It'll be alright, Sasuke. It will be."

"...Mom...I have something important to...tell you."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I did this because I was inspired to by reading Biju Biju Fruit by Emma Iveli. Naruto ate the Biju Biju Fruit, Kyuubi type in that one and he kept going on how the crew needed a musician in the first thirty chapters. I don't know about later on, that is as far as I read.

Well, what do you think? Worth continuing? Up to you guys. I'm satisfied now that I got it out of my system. But I can easily continue.


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto walked into class. He saw Sasuke already there and nodded to him. The two kept their distance while at school. Naruto wasn't well liked and he refused to let those feelings spread to his only friend. His blue long coat hung tight to him thanks to the guitar on his back. His blue jeans and black steel toes boots with white t-shirt were his normal attire.

Seeing that Iruka-sensei wasn't here yet, he grinned. He formed a single hand sign that was the shape of a cross. Six Kage Bunshin clones appeared. He kind of stole this technique when he was five. The clones all grinned before transforming into some of his class mates.

Shikamaru, "Hello, I am Sloth!" Choji, "I am Glutton!" Ino, "I'm Lust!" Kiba, "I'm Pride!" The next turned into Sakura, "I'm Envy!" The original stayed the same, "Call me Greed!" The last changed into Sasuke. "Guess that makes me Wrath."

The real Naruto took his guitar off his back and started playing. Sloth tapped his foot for the drum. Wrath provided the sounds for accordion. Envy the banjo. Lust the violin. Pride the bass guitar. Glutton the electric guitar.

"Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roarin' waves. Together undivided but forever we'll be free. So sail away aboard our rig, the moon is full and so are we. We're seven drunken pirates we're the seven deadly sins.

"So the years rolled by and several died and left us somewhat reelin'. Johnny strummed his Tommy gun, left blastin' through the ceiling. So what became of rebels who sang for you and me? Grapplin' with their demons in the search for liberty.

"Suffers who suffer all can swim upon the desert. Where avarice have ravaged all in spite of good intentions. Don't fill your mouth with gluttony, for pride will surely swell. But nothings unforgiven in the four corners of hell.

"Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roarin' waves. Together undivided but forever we'll be free. So sail away aboard our rig, the moon is full and so are we. We're seven drunken pirates we're the seven deadly sins.

"Envy and its evil twin it crepy in bed with slander. Idiots they gave advice but sloth it gave no answer. Anger kills the human soul with bitter tales of lust. While Pavlov's dogs keep chewin' on the legs they never trust.

"Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roarin' waves. Together undivided but forever we'll be free. So sail away aboard our rig, the moon is full and so are we. We're seven drunken pirates we're the seven deadly sins.

"But it's the only life we'll know, Blagards to the bone. So don't wreck yourself, take an honest grip. For there's more tales beyond the shore.

"Ah the years rolled by and several died and left us somewhat reelin' In and out came crawlin' out And spewed upon the ceiling So what became of rebels That sang for you and me? Grapplin' with their demons In the search for liberty.

"Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roarin' waves. Together undivided but forever we'll be free. So sail away aboard our rig, the moon is full and so are we. We're seven drunken pirates we're the seven deadly sins.

"Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roarin' waves. Together undivided but forever we'll be free. So sail away aboard our rig, the moon is full and so are we. We're seven drunken pirates we're the seven deadly sins. We're seven drunken pirates, we're the seven deadly sins. We're seven drunken pirates,we're the seven deadly sins."

All seven of them sang it. Some of the people imitated looked humiliated, others laughed at the joke it was meant as, and Shikamaru just said, "Troublesome." Neither him nor Choji bother denying it.

Sakura went up and hit the clone that copied her. "You idiot!"

Naruto just laughed as he released the jutsu. "Something wrong, Sakura? Didn't take it too well, eh?" He slipped his guitar on to his back while dodging her punches. "Come on, I used myself in there as well! And you don't see Ino over reacting!"

"That is because she knows she is lust incarnate!"

"Now that isn't very nice," Naruto told her. "What about Kiba and Pride?"

"It fits!"

"Sasuke and Wrath?"

"Sasuke doesn't have a vengeful bone in his body!"

"Now for once we agree." Naruto jumped back just as Iruka came in.

"...Sakura, why are you trying to kill Naruto this time?"

"He... He... UGH!" She stomped over to her seat. Naruto only shrugged to his sensei and sat down in the last available seat, next to Hinata.

"Morning Hinata!"

"G-Good m-morning, Naruto-kun. Uh... Um... Your performance was great, as always," She said in a voice a little above a whisper.

Naruto grinned. "Thanks, Hinata-chan!"

Hinata turned red. 'He called me chan...' She slumped to her desk, unconscious.

Naruto sighed. "Iruka-sensei, Hinata did it again."

Iruka sighed as well. "Do you know the cause this time?"

"Uh, just a second." Naruto pressed his hand to her forehead. "She feels really warm, Iruka-sensei. And her face is flushed."

"The test is today so we can't send her home... Naruto, you and Hinata will go last. Watch her and make sure she is alright."

"Okay," Naruto replied.

—oo000oo—

Naruto performed the Kage Bunshin without a problem. "So, Iruka-sensei, did I pass?"

Iruka looked over his papers. Something seemed off here. "The test itself, yes you did Naruto. But your grades are not high enough to allow you to."

"What!?"

"I am sorry. For the moment, I cannot let you graduate." Naruto missed what he meant by that and left the room down trodden.

"Okay, so I'm not the best with weapons. But I am the strongest at Taijutsu. And my ninjutsu are great as well. How could I not graduate?"

Mizuki had to act quickly. It would not take Iruka long to find the real grades Naruto received. "Naruto, mind if we have a word?"

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked around the vault. This didn't sit well with him but if it worked, he would pass. He was humming so he didn't make a sound. He gave an unheard laugh. Making noise not to be heard, so ironic. 'Hmm, Forbidden Scroll... Sealing Arts... Fujin's Wind..." He could have taken the Forbidden Scroll but Jii-san made him promise never to look in it again after that time when he was five. 'AH HA! Sound and it's uses in Combat!' He grabbed that scroll and took off to the window.

"Naruto, what are you doing here so late?"

Naruto tripped and rolled several feet. He stood back up and started moving his mouth but nothing came out. "Oops, forgot about that. I guess this means I fails Jii-san."

"What are you talking about?"

"That second exam Mizuki-sensei told me about to become a ninja."

"...Naruto, there is no second exam."

"But... Why would he lie?"

"Naruto, did he tell you to get that scroll itself?"

"No. He said to take the Scroll of Forbidden Arts and go to the cottage in the forest. Once there, I was to learn a jutsu inside it and show him it when he got there after a few hours. But I am still keeping my promise to you, Jii-san and not looking in that scroll again. So I looked for a different one. This is the one I found." He held it up so Sarutobi could see. It was the Scroll made by Orochimaru before he left.

"...I'm sorry Naruto, you have been lied to. I want your help in capturing Mizuki for betraying the village." Naruto scowled, he hated traitors. "Continue on with the plan. I will have ANBU follow him when he comes for you."

"Alright, Jii-san."

—oo000oo—

Naruto reached the field and started punching anything he could, more often than not, breaking it. "I'll kill him! I swear he will regret this! The hell he is sent to is going to be sanctuary wen I am done with him!"

After spending another ten minutes reducing trees to splinters, he sat down. He still had the scroll. Opening it, he looked at the first jutsu. "Sound hold the unique property that it is not something the can be blocked. Sound is ethereal, moving in waves. It will hit something but still continue through it. Even if a person does not hear it, the sound waves still hits them.

"...Genjutsu, just great. I am horrible at Genjutsu! ...Know yourself and seat self improvement." He started off with the theory behind this genjutsu.

—oo000oo—

Iruka found it. Someone had altered his grades. He grinned, "Now, I can let Naruto graduate." There was pounding at the door and Iruka opened it. Mizuki stood there.

"Iruka, it is horrible! Naruto has stolen the Scroll of Forbidden Arts!"

Iruka cursed went inside for his ninja gear. Again, that feeling of something being wrong hit him. Naruto has spent more time in the tower then even he had. So why steal the scroll now?

He looked around wondering where Naruto might have been. Suddenly, he just knew where he was. He started out that way.

—oo000oo—

"YES! Time for the next one! ...These Dobi are controlled by sounds created by the summoner. They are able to absorb chakra through the use of ghost. But if the user cannot play the needed notes, they will do nothing. Hmm, no not for me. ...Sound Manipulation. By the use of chakra, the caster controls where the sound waves moves. By doing this, they can damage certain things instead of area targets. Now that one is for me," Naruto yelled. He started doing as the scroll said and got it down just before Iruka-sensei showed up.

"What are you doing here?"

"Me, what about you and stealing the Forbidden Scroll!?"

Naruto frowned. He rolled up the scroll and showed him the title. "This isn't the Forbidden Scroll. Jii-san told me to never look in that scroll. So when Mizuki told me about this test, I took this one instead to complete it. ...Did Jii-san send you?"

The implications of this hit Iruka. Mizuki set them up. But why him? 'Because I know someone altered Naruto's records. And Mizuki is the only one that can besides me.' The sound of something spinning reached his ears. He pushed Naruto out of the way just as several kunai and shurikens hit him. "Mizuki you traitor!"

"Ah, don't say that," Mizuki said. "You'll give Naruto a bad impression of me. Naruto, give me the scroll!"

Instead, Naruto started to laugh. "I hate to break this to you, Mizuki. But I don't have the Scroll of Forbidden Arts. Jii-san said to never look in it again after I learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. So I grabbed a different one. One that uses sound to fight."

Mizuki scowled. "You couldn't even do that right! You really are useless to this village! The Fourth made a mistake in choosing you!"

"Shut up! This has nothing to do with the Fourth!"

"You are so very wrong," Mizuki taunted while Iruka was shouting for him to be quiet. "Your life has everything to do with the Fourth. Haven't you ever wondered why no one has ever adopted you?"

"Because my godfather won't et them," Naruto supplied.

"Wrong! Because you are the Nine Tailed Fox! Twelve years ago, when you attacked this village, the Fourth Hokage took the child Naruto and seal you inside of him! Where you devoured his soul! But you lost all memories of yourself when you did!"

"Stop lying, traitor! Jii-san would know!"

"I'm not lying. Want me to prove it? Just channel some chakra and look under your shirt."

Naruto couldn't help but look down. "Fine, I guess the condemned can have a last request!" He channeled a bit and looked. And there it was, bright as day. A seal. From what little he knew about them, this sealed a creature inside a host. "Oh god."

Mizuki laughed. "And so the Nine Tailed Fox realizes why he will never fit in!"

Naruto dropped his shirt, his body shaking. "...So," he asked. He looked up, tears coming from his face but a determination in his eyes. "Even if I am, then so what! Rin-chan and Jii-san still care for me and I care for them! I will do whatever I can to protect them!"

Mizuki had not expected that. "But don't you want revenge? The way these people have treated you!?"

"If what you say is true, then I killed hundreds of people before the Fourth gave me a new life. I can stand a little hatred, I have before. After all... I am a Leaf shinobi!"

Mizuki scowled. "Then die, shinobi!" He took the giant shuriken from his back, started it spinning, and threw it.

"Naruto, look out," Iruka yelled.

There was a clash of metal on metal as the shuriken was knocked away. "Chunin Mizuki, for the attempted murder of Genin Uzumaki Naruto, the betrayal of the Hidden Leaf Village, and the revealing of an S class secret, you are sentence to death, to be carried out immediately," an ANBU with a hawk mask said, his sword still ringing from blocking it.

"Did I forget to mention that Jii-san said he would send some ninja to stop you," Naruto asked.

Another ANBU appeared and knocked Mizuki from the tree he was in. These were Itachi's old teammates and Naruto's friends as well. Ox, up in the tree, grunted and nodded to Tiger. But before she could move, Naruto took his guitar from his back. He started playing a tune and Mizuki was pulled up by something. He arms spread wide, he started screaming in pain.

"Now kill him," Naruto said.

"...Naruto,what did you just do to him?"

"I used a genjutsu on him," Naruto said before he clicked his tongue. His ears twitched and he turned to a tree. "Rat, what are you waiting for?"

The ANBU stepped out from behind the tree. "Just wondering how long till you noticed. So, how did you know?"

Mizuki's screams were suddenly silenced and Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. "The click I make."

"...That is why you always do that in my class," Iruka said. "Eco-location?"

"Yeah, I got the idea after watching a documentary on dolphins," Naruto confessed. "Took me some time to get the frequency right. Still working on always doing it though."

Iruka should his head. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulder and walked him away. "Oh, before I forget. Close your eyes." Naruto looked at him questioningly. "Trust me, it was worth the wait." Naruto sighed but did as he said. He then felt something get placed around his forehead. "Okay, open them." He saw Iruka no longer had his headband. "Congratulations on graduating." Naruto reached up and felt the headband there. A grin split his face as he hugged the man. "Mizuki altered your records. Now, I did have a speech for you about how hard it is to be a ninja. But I think you would do better with a different one. What you did to Mizuki, he deserved it. And some times it is necessary. But if you ever start to grow to like doing that, Naruto, I want you to quit. Resign your status as I would. You are not the Kyuubi. Nor are you a weapon. And only monsters and weapons feel those things. Okay?"

Naruto considered it. Making Mizuki feel that pain, holding him still for the ANBU to kill. Did he enjoy that? No he didn't. He thought it would give him some satisfaction but in the end, he was only glad the traitor could no longer hurt his village. "Alright, Iruka-sensei."

Iruka looked at the ANBU for a moment to see them set the body on fire, keeping only his head band to show what they had done. These men were cold and ruthless, efficient and calculating, and, in some ways, friends to Naruto. They worked with Itachi and taught Naruto whenever Rin was not able to. Nothing that would make him powerful. They were ordered things that would help with chakra control. Of course, Iruka realized with a grin, telling him of a scroll with Kage Bunshin no Jutsu could fall under that, couldn't it?

"They friends of your's?"

"They taught me a few things," Naruto said as if it was nothing. They came to a fast moving river and Naruto hesitated. Iruka was about to grab him and jump over it but Naruto put a foot atop the water. Followed by another step. Naruto didn't sink so he relaxed and walked across the water. "Well, maybe more than a few things."

He couldn't help himself. Hes started singing a small song, again about pirates. His voice sounded like several people were singing at once. "Shiver my timbers, shiver my soul..."

—oo000oo—

Naruto entered the old Uchiha estates. Neither could live there with the history there. This was the first time he had entered it himself. But he had to see something. Itachi once said that something concerning the Kyuubi was here. He created a Kage Bunshin and that one made as many as he could. Something Tiger pointed out to him. Half his chakra was used to make one. And if that one make more clones, it only took chakra from that clone.

They ran everywhere, checking each building. Ten were dedicated to checking for secret rooms and compartments. Clicking could be heard all over the compound. In the end, the found a small fortune in jewels, a few journals, a secret room full of autographed Icha Icha Tactics, and another with even more embarrassing adult stuff. Needless to say, Naruto slammed the door to that room shut right away.

"Boss," one of the clones called. It was soft, no louder than needed, but it carried from the meeting chambers of the clan council. "I think I found it." A thunk from a fist tapping solid wood was heard. Then came one that had nothing behind it.

Naruto went over there and lifted the trap door. Walking down, he couldn't see a thing. "A torch." One was handed down to him and Naruto saw a mural on the far wall. Going to it, he read what it said. Twice in the last six hours, he lost his bearings on the world. "The Uchiha could control..."

—oo000oo—

"Naruto-nii-san," a little girl said, running up to him She jumped into his arms. "Hello Kushina," Naruto said. "Were you a good girl today?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes! So can you?!"

"Hmm, I don't know. Rin-sensei did tell me not to use it until I became a ninja," Naruto said, teasing her.

She looked really sad for a moment. "But big brother told me you used it in class yesterday!"

"Really? Must have been someone else with the Uta-konsei," Naruto said. It was what he called it, meaning Song Voices.

"There are others," Kushina asked, confused.

"I hope not," Naruto told her. "Can you imagine there being more of me without me using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!? A nightmare!" He did the hand sign behind her back and a couple hundred clones appeared, all of them singing some song or other, all off tune. "It is much better like this when I can just shut them up going 'poof'!" They all disappeared, making Kushina laugh.

"...Hey, you are a ninja!"

"I am?" A hand came up and felt his headband. "So I am. I guess I could to it for you now." He set her down on the bench and took the guitar off his back. This song had no words. Just the slow playing of the tune. Kushina grinned happily as Naruto used his Oto Oto abilities to draw her into her own little world. It only took a minute before she fell asleep. He could have stopped but he never did for her.

"She got you to do it again, didn't she," Sasuke asked. He came over because he heard his sister's favorite song to get Naruto to play.

"She did," Naruto replied as he continued, the beat picking up.

"One day, you will have to show me if you can play that for real."

"I could break you heart with it," Naruto said. It slowed down again and came to a stop. "I was at the old estates yesterday and found somethings that was missed. There is more there, things I am not going to touch. But I marked where they are hidden." He took the scroll with everything sealed in it and tossed to Sasuke.

"Thanks... So you passed."

"Yeah, there was a mistake in the paperwork. Mine was mixed with someone else's. Iruka found out and got my headband to me before midnight last night."

"That's good. ...Think we will end up on the same team?"

"Don't you know? I have connections," Naruto said with a laugh. "But who to have as a third member?"

Sasuke started to laugh. "No, that would be evil..."

"Who?"

"Haruno Sakura or Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto laughed. "Sakura I get. I would drive her nuts in three missions. But how would it be evil to Hinata? And you know she doesn't have the best of health."

Sasuke smiled knowingly. "Oh, just a feeling."

"Well, feelings are always something to listen too," Mikoto said as she came up to them. She smiled down at her four year old duaghter. "Right to sleep as always. So, what were you two boys talking about?"

"Who we wanted on a team," they replied. "We narrowed it to Haruno Sakura so we could have a few laughs. But Sasuke said Hyuuga Hinata would be good as well," Naruto continued.

Mikoto smirked. "I think she would."

That surprised both boys. "Why?"

"Have I ever told you about my team?" They should their heads no. "Well, there was my sensei, Lady Tsunade herself, me, the woman that I named my daughter after, Kushina, and Hinata's mother, Aoi. I think it would be a good team to have again."

Sasuke grinned, his mom didn't talk much about her team anymore because she was the last one alive. But whenever she did, she was always happy. "Why would that team be made again? Yeah, you have me and Hinata. But Naruto isn't related to Kushina...is he?"

She smiled, "I can't say. But he has her temperment. And I think he would use her jutsus rather well. You should ask Jiriaya about her next time you see him."

Naruto nodded. "Well, I have a few things I need to do. Returning a scroll to Jii-san being one of them. I just came by to give you that and tell you I graduated. Bye." With a last wave, he left. As he walked away, he wondered what the Uzumaki Kushina was like. But his thought were interrupted by some laughs he recognized anywhere. "Grand uncle!" He followed it to the hot springs and tackled the old man to the ground.

"Yo, kiddo! Why am I not surprised it is you?"

"You've been gone to long, uncle! Hey, Mikoto-san said I should ask you about a woman named Kushina. Who is she?"

Jiriayawent slack face. "...Naruto, you know I acre for you right?"

"Of course."

"And that if I choose not to tell you something, it is because I think it is important right?"

Naruto frowned but nodded. "I know."

"Kushina was the wife of my apprentice, Namikaze Minato, the Fourth. Until you become a Chunin, that is all I can tell you. Got it?"

"Whoa... Mikoto told me I have her temperment."

"You do. And your favorite jutsu was hers as well."

"Now that is cool. But I think I will just be the first Naruto instead of the next Kushina," Naruto said to himself. "Oh, Mikoto-san said I would fill the spot she had if me, Sasuke for herself, and Hinata for Aoi, back when they were a team."

"They were a team, weren't they," Jiriaya asked the air. 'I think the Ino-Shika-Cho trio are getting their children together. Why not the Uzumaki-Uchiha-Hyuuga three?' He pushed Naruto off him. "Off now, I'm too old to lie on the ground."

Naruto got up, making a click with his tongue as he did. He began to blush. "Uncle, were you peeping on the woman over there," he asked in a quiet tone.

He told him to be quiet even though they couldn't hear him. "In all my travels, I have never seen women that inspire me to write more than the ones here."

Naruto grinned, "That is a lot of inspiration. I seen someone's complete autographed collection. But you are doing it all wrong." He blushed again. "Watch a master at work. He transformed into a teenager with his blue eyes but brown hair. And female. "See you in five minutes," she said with a giggle.

Jiriaya jaw dropped for two reasons. One, because he never thought of that. Two, because if Rin found out he had somehow turned her student into a pervert, she was going to falay him and salt the wounds. When finally he picked his jaw off the ground, he looked back through the hole and there he was taking, sitting in the water. He was blushing like mad but you could see he enjoyed it. "I am a dead man if Rin finds out." But he couldn't feel more proud of his godson.

After five minutes, and turning more red when they started splashing water at each other, Naruto felt it had been long enough and walked out. She went back over to his uncle and changed back. "Two things. Who is the man?" Jiriaya only laughed at that, a deep, gut felt one. "Second, I don't think I can hold it back anymore."

"Hold what..." Naruto got a nose bleed that threw him backwards. This only made Jiriaya laugh all the harder.

—oo000oo—

"I'm sorry uncle, I didn't know she would go that far," Naruto said, holding a bag of ice to his uncle's eye.

"Not your fault, Naruto," he replied in a strained voice. "In truth, if I could feel anything right now, it would be pride." Rin had found out. How could she not when Naruto had blood all over his shirt, leading to his nose. And Jiriaya had paid for it.

—oo000oo—

"Yo, old man," Jiriaya said to him when he could move again. "I got a request."

"What is it?"

"It is about Naruto's team. I have a request on who it is."

"...I just wrote down Sasuke and a young woman by the name of Haruno Sakura. You have an objection to that?"

"Just the girl. I think it would be better off being Hyuuga Hinata instead."

The Third scratched his beard. "Now why is that?"

"Because their mothers made an excellent team. And with an exception of Naruto's Oto Oto powers, they use the same skills. Why else?"

Sarutobi grinned. "Because Naruto is too dense about girls to understand she has it bad for him."

Jiriaya arched an eyebrow. "How bad?"

"She faints so much he thinks she has poor health."

Jiriaya laughed, "You should do it anyway. After all, the other one is probably an Uchiha fan girl. At least this one seems to understand, somewhat, there is a time for it. I did see her scores. She would work well with them. Naruto being a distance fighter and Sasuke a mid range, she would be perfect to balance them out."

"Hmm. You are right there. I'll do it."

"Hey Jii-san," Naruto yelled, coming in the office. Predictably, both men covered their ears. And Naruto began speaking in a whisper. Rin outside just sighed, a normal day. "Gomen. I have a favor to ask, Jii-san."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, first, this scroll I took last night has been really helpful. If I may, can I keep it?"

Sarutobi looked at the scroll on his back, below his guitar. Both himself and several other have gone through it with a fine tooth comb and found nothing 'dangerous' about it. But he was still hesitant. "If you find something strange about that scroll, bring it to me, okay?"

"I will Jii-san. And the other is about my team."

"I am not changing the line up for you, Naruto."

"But..."

"No buts. My decision is final."

Naruto dropped his head in defeat. "Okay, Jii-san," he said with a sigh. He turned and started saying as he walked out, "My folks were always putting him down. Down, down, down down. They said he came from the wrong side of town. Wrong side of town. They thought that he was bad. But I knew he was sad. The leader of the pact." He grinned at the guilt trip he was giving them.

"That was low, Naruto," Rin told him with a smile.

Naruto just kept smiling.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. Think the music bits were too much? Just a lot of things can be said from the right song at the right time. And besides, for the most part, those seven really do embody the seven deadly sins. They might as well just call Shikamaru Sloth, Choji Gluttony, Ino lust (remember what she did to Neji during the second exam?) Do I really need to say Sasuke is Wrath? I think Sakura falls between Lust and envy. Kiba will always be a prideful one. The only one I probably got wrong was Naruto. But when it comes to jutsus, he is greedy, always wanting more.

And as for making Naruto a pervert, I hate to tell the world this but all men are perverts. Naruto just happens to know there is a time for it. And for the most part, that time is not around other people.

I did not write Seven Deadly Sins. The second song is Shiver My Timbers from Muppet Treasure Island. The last song, the one used for the guilt trip, was Leader of the Pact. All of these songs are copy writed to someone else. I wish they weren't though.


	3. Chapter 3

Sasuke looked at the scroll and shrugged. He had forgotten about it with all that talk about teams. He had just put his sister to bed and was in his room now. He unrolled it and saw several seals with names under them. "Jewels...journals..." He arched an eyebrow at, "DO NOT UNSEAL!" "Books?" This one confused Sasuke because underneath the name was a winking smiley face. Shrugging, he set it on the ground, cut his thumb, wiped the blood across the books seal, and released them.

He went wide eyed with some sweat going down the side of his face. "WHAT!? How...He... This... This..." A book stand of every issue of Icha Icha Tactics up to four years ago was in front of him. His hand reached out and picked one up. "...To Itachi, from Jiriaya, Great Toad Sage and author!" He opened it and grinned. "Oh my..."

—oo000oo—

It was the day of team placements and Naruto once again saw Iruka-sensei wasn't there. He grinned. And everyone who saw him do that got ready, someone was about to be embarrassed. He calmly walked down to the front of the class. Took the scroll off his back and set it down. The the Guitar. He strummed it and it sounded like an electric guitar.

"Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!" They had not been expecting that one. Kiba started laughing, jumped down there with Akamaru, and started singing it with him.

"When the party was nice, the party was jumping! Hey, yippie yi yo! And everybody having a ball! Hah ho, yippie yi yo! I tell all the fellas, 'Start the name calling'! Yippie yi yo! And the girls report to the call! The poor dog show down!

"Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!

"I see ya' little speed boat head up our coast! She really want to skip town! Get back off me, beast get off me! Get back you flea infested mongrel!

"Gonna tell myself 'Man, don't get angry'! Hey, yippie yi yo! To any girls calling them canine! Yippie yi yo! Tell the dummy, 'Hey man it's part of the party'! Yippie yi yo! To fetch a woman in front and her man behind! The woman shouts out!

"Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!

"A doggy is nuttin' if he don't have a bone! All doggy hold your bone, all doggy hold it! A doggy is nuttin' if he don't have a bone! All doggy hold your bone, all doggy hold it!

"Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!

"I see the dancing all about! She really want to skip town! Get back off me, beast get off me! Get back you flea bitten mongrel!

"Wait for y'all my dogs, the party is on! I gotta get my girl I got my mind on! Do you see the rays comin' from my eye! What could you be friend that Benji man that's breakin' them down!? Me and my white short shorts and I can't seek a lot, any canine will do! I'm figure that's why they call me pit bull! 'Cause I'm the man of the land! They see me they do ah-ooooo!

"Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof! Who let the dogs out!? Woof, woof, woof, woof!"

They really started laughing when they saw Kiba and Akamaru get up on one leg and started dancing around. Hinata was openly smiling. She always found his jokes to be funny. But she never understood how he only had one instrument but always sounded like he had a whole band.

A few passing students at the door suddenly ran away, meaning that Iruka-sensei was coming. Naruto took his usual seat by Hinata, gave her a smile, before putting his boots up on the desk and started tuning his guitar. "Feeling better, Hinata-chan?"

"Ano...I am," she told him in her usual faint voice. "You really do play well, Naruto-kun... How do you do that?"

"By strumming the strings and singing," he said, a bit of a joke. When finally, he tightened the loosened string to his satisfaction, he played a small tune before putting it on his back again. "Who are you hoping to get teamed with?"

"Uh... well..." She turned red as she looked around the room. "Uh... I was hoping..."

"Team seven is Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto." Both Naruto and Hinata dropped their heads, depressed.

—oo000oo—

Just when Iruka was about to finish calling out names of the last team, a messenger came from the Hokage. "Pardon the intrusion," the chunin said. "But you were given the wrong list this morning."

Hope filled the eyes of all the girls in the room. They might be with Sasuke-kun after all. "So, which teams were wrong?"

"Team seven..." They all went starry eyed. Even Hinata grew hopeful. The messenger also felt killer intent for if he didn't say their teams. He swallowed, "...and team eight." He gave him the correct roster and left.

All the women were looking at Hinata with hate filled eyes. Especially Sakura. "It had better be Shino replacing Naruto," she warned.

Iruka cleared his throat. "No, it isn't. Hinata, you are now on team seven and Sakura is on team eight. By order of the Third Hokage."

Sakura turned her glare back to Hinata and was about to say something. But Naruto slammed his feet down, and stood up, obviously angry. 'He doesn't want me on his team,' Hinata thought.

"If you say what you are planning on, Sakura, I will have to do something I will regret. Do you understand me? Hinata had nothing to do with it, I did. You want to get mad at someone, get mad at me."

He sat back down while a world full of killer intent was directed at him. He began to sweat under it but when he saw Hinata thank him, he decided it was worth it. "I didn't really. I was going to ask he to make sure me and Sasuke were together with you anyway. But but as soon as I said, 'team' he said he wasn't going to change it. I guess he had already decided by then."

"...Thank you, Naruto-kun."

"For what," Naruto asked, confused. "You already thanked me for getting them off your back. There is nothing else to thank me for."

She only blushed a little.

"Now that that is settled, you are free until after lunch." Iruka said, making sure to get out of their way. They wanted out of this room badly and stampeded out. Only team seven and a still fuming Sakura was still there.

"Why the hell did you ask for her instead of me," she demanded.

"Because she tries and she isn't a fan girl," Naruto said as he stood up.

"Plus, even though she faints, she isn't more interested in just being with one of her team instead of both of them," Sasuke said. "I was the one that suggest her, when me and Naruto were talking yesterday."

"Naruto-kun didn't..." Hinata asked.

"No, he was afraid that you might be really sick with something so you wouldn't be able to get a team right now." Sasuke said as he to stood up.

"Yeah. You did get better really quickly. Come on, let's go get something to eat, my treat." He held out his hand to Hinata and she blushed as she took it.

"..." Sakura couldn't believe it. The two people that never seemed to get along had gotten together and asked each other who they wanted on _their_ team. As if they already knew they would be together.

Sasuke was following his teammates out. But he stopped at the door. "If you and any of the other had actually looked, you would have seen it. Naruto and I don't hate each other. We are actually the closest friends we have. He just insisted we kept our distance while at school so no one hated me as well."

"But how can you be friends with him!? He is rude, does a lot of bad things, stays up all night, never takes anything serious! It's all because he doesn't have a family too!"

"People like you...who think Naruto is a bad person...are really annoying. My family is gone for the most part. And Hinata's mother has passed away as well. But we were lucky. There are still people who care for us. Naruto...his whole family was killed by the Kyuubi. He has never had a parent just hold him and care for him." He walked out, leaving a crushed Sakura behind.

Iruka frowned that Sasuke put it so harsh. But he also knew that Sakura needed to wake up to the world. "Sakura. You going to be able to handle this?"

"...Am I really annoying?"

"Sakura I could tell you the truth or I could tell you a lie. But I doubt you would be happy with either."

"...The truth. Did I really treat Naruto so bad?"

"You treated him no worst than most of the village. Which is not to say you treated him with kindness or caring. Did he ever before today say a bad word to you?"

"No..."

"Did he ever do anything to your family that might spark dislike?"

"Not really. My parents just didn't like him and I thought they knew the best."

"Just like most of the village," Iruka told her. "Sasuke and Hinata, Choji, Shikamaru, and Kiba. Of the class, they are really the only ones that don't mistreat him. Those three because they use to ditch class all the time together with him. While he helped Sasuke from a bully. And showed Hinata what it meant to be strong."

"But I know he has someone that cares for him."

"You are right, there are. He has a godfather but he has to leave for weeks, even months, at a time. And he calls the Hokage Jii-san because he is like a grandfather to him. But he has a family and the village to worry about too. The closest Naruto has had for a permanent family member is the Hokage's aid, a woman named Rin. She has spent the most time caring for him."

Sakura nodded. "Maybe I should take some time to get to know him."

"That would be for the best," Iruka said.

—oo000oo—

"So, what are you going to do," Sasuke asked. "I can kick your butt right now or you can back off."

"Not much I can do... Full house," Hinata said, laying the cards down to show them. Both Naruto and Sasuke groaned. "You two are just too easy to read," Hinata said with a smile. She pulled the chips in the center of the table to her. She smiled as she ate one. "It's Naruto-kun's turn to deal."

Naruto collected the cards as he looked at his and Sasuke's rapidly growing smaller pile of potato chips. "We need to do something."

"Are you sure she isn't using the Byakugan," Sasuke asked in a whisper.

"Yeah."

Hinata smiled as she looked at what she really wanted. Each of them had a sweet roll. And she wanted them with a passion. "How about we go all in on the next hand?" They hesitate. "How about his, your deserts for all of the food I've taken from you."

They looked at each other and nodded. "Five card draw, jokers wild. Ante up." They all put in their roll. "How many cards, Hinata-chan?"

"Hmm... Two."

"Sasuke?"

"One."

...Dealer takes two." Naruto looked from his hand to the two across from him. The last thing he expected from such a shy girl like Hinata was that she had a stone cold poker face. But she never gave anything away.

They raised the bets, even their sandwiches went in. "I call," Hinata said. "Do you have anything?"

"Do I have anything? I got, in hearts, the two, three, four, five... and the eight of clubs." He dropped his head, his lunch gone.

Naruto was still giving that fox grin of his. He never lost it even when he lost. "Your next Hinata."

"All the kings and the Ace of Swords." She grinned in victory.

"That is good, Lady Hyuuga...just not good enough. Royal flush in Swords." He showed them. His hand was the Ten, Jack, Queen, and both jokers. Hinata's jaw hit the table as he took back their lunch.

"My...My sweet roll..." She looked like she was about to cry.

And Naruto would be damned if he didn't have a weakness to a woman crying. He pushed it back to her along with his. "I don't have much of a sweet tooth."

"Thank you..." She began to eat them like she hasn't eaten in over a month. The two grinned at each other as they watched.

"How did you do that, Hinata-chan?"

She looked up, her cheeks kind of puffed out from how full her mouth was. She swallowed and remembered just who she was with. He red blush returned with a vengeance. "Uh... I, I can r,read the cards in y,your eyes, Sasuke-san."

"And how about me," Naruto asked.

"...Y,Your s,smile changes a l,little when you bluff, N,Naruto-kun. Y,Your left c,corner rises a...an eighth of an i,inch."

"Wow, you were really looking," Naruto stated. He tilted his head in confusion when Hinata turned even redder at the statement. "You feeling okay, Hinata-chan?" He reached across the table and put his hand on her forehead. "You feel warm. Are you sure... Hinata-chan!" She had fainted.

—oo000oo—

Team Nine was already gone. While Team Eight was still waiting. Naruto yawned from where he was sitting. His team was still there as well. "I wonder what is taking them so long?"

The door slammed opened, scaring the hell out of everyone there. "Alright listen up! Which of you worthless brats are Team Seven!?" They saw a woman with purple hair that was spiky in the back. She wore a tench coat, a fishnet shirt, and a mini skirt.

"Hey, Anko-san," Naruto said with an ever so slight smile. He knew her and he did like her. But it was because he knew her that he was nervous right now. As he described her to Jii-san, 'She is nuts!' "Uh, Are you the instructor for team seven?"

She smiled sadistically. "Oh yeah. I already know who so don't make me wait, Naruto-kun."

He swallowed. "I am part of team seven," the nervousness was evident in his normally calm voice.

"Ano... I am as well," Hinata whispered.

"Me too," Sasuke said.

"Good, come with me," she yelled before turning away and walking off. She didn't check to make sure they were coming. Either they would or they wouldn't. And if they didn't, she could be rid of them that much sooner.

Naruto ran after Anko. He did not want to test his luck with her. Sasuke shrugged and followed him. While Hinata ran after Naruto.

"Great," Sakura said. "When is our sensei going to get here," she said, slamming her fist down to the table. "I mean, who could possibly be this late!?"

—oo000oo—

Team seven was sitting at a tea house. Anko had bought herself some tea and dangos. "Now, we are going to do some introductions. I suspect you already know each other rather well. But this is for my benefit. Start with yourself, Naruto-kun."

"Uzumaki Naruto. I like singing and anything that has to do with music. And Ramen. I hate people that tell me to be quiet when they are being louder. And the three minute wait to cook instant ramen. My dreams for the future... Well the short term is to become a chunin as soon as possible so I can find out about a woman named Kushina. The long term is become Hokage."

Anko nodded. She knew about the Hokage part. But not that he already knew the name Kushina. "You with the pale eyes, you're next."

"Uh... I'm Hyuuga Hinata..." Hinata said in her usual whisper. "And I..." She slapped her hands over her mouth when her voice suddenly grew louder. She looked around her to see if they noticed and saw Naruto snickering.

"Sorry, Hinata-chan, I just couldn't hear you or resist."

"Continue," Anko said. "As is."

"Ano... I like... I like my friends. But I dislike it when people assume something is predetermined. They do it because they cannot blame what has happened on anything else." She found herself trying to lower her voice again but it stayed loud and clear. "My dreams for the future is to grow and be stronger. So that one day, I will be strong enough to lead the Hyuuga clan and make it better."

Anko smirked. "And also gain the notice of that special someone, right?" Hinata turned beet red.

"Oto? Hinata has someone she likes," Naruto asked. Anko only laughed at him and Hinata.

"Now you, chicken top."

"...My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I too like my friends. I dislike fan girls. My dreams for the future is to restore my clan. But not as it was. The old Uchiha clan was stagnant, decaying. I want to make it anew and loyal to Konoha. And to clear my brother of his wrongful charges."

Anko blinked in surprise. She had not expected that. 'Stagnant and decaying? Clear him of his charges?' "You mean he didn't do it?"

Sasuke shook his head. "That I can't say. But my brother is a good person. He is one of a handful of people I would trust with my life right now."

'He knows something,' Anko concluded. 'And he will tell no one what that is.'

"Now, I am Mitarashi Anko. I like dangos and red bean paste. I hate a certain person. My dreams are simple. To kill that certain person." They tensed at this.

"Alright, I think that is enough. Now, let me go over our first, and potentially last mission together." That made all three of them swallow nervously. "Tomorrow, you will each show up at area forty four at eight sharp. If you don't, I fail you."

"This is a test," Sasuke asked.

"Yup," Anko replied. "You see, out of all the students graduating, only a third of them becomes ninja. Meaning with twenty seven graduates, only nine really become ninja. The rest go back to the academy to receive further training." She still had that evil smirk. But slightly lost it when the only one that seemed nervous was Hinata. And she found her backbone when she saw Naruto wasn't.

Naruto looked like he was thinking about what to say to that. "...But I'll take you bet, that you're gonna regret cause I'm the best theres ever been!" He kept humming the rest of the song to himself but he said what he wanted.

Sasuke smiled. "There is always a song that says it all, isn't there?" Naruto nodded.

"Ano...I will try my best," Hinata said, her voice still louder than normal.

Naruto slimed. "We ask nothing more."

"Good, now that we have that settled," Anko said, sticking a full stick of dango in her mouth and eating them, "give this envelopes to your parents. They have to sign it or else you cannot take the test."

Naruto took his and wondered who to give his to. Hinata didn't really want to face her father for this. And Sasuke wondered why they needed to do this in the first place.

"I will explain the test tomorrow when you get there," Anko told them. "Do you need directions there?"

"Yes," they all said.

This make Anko smile all the more. It meant that they had never been there before. "Then these are for you." She gave them each a map of Konoha and the surrounding area with area forty four clearly marked. "Bring your ninja gear and whatever you think you will need. You are free until then. A word of advice, be prepared for the worst."

They stood up and left. "...We need to go see this training area," Naruto decided.

—oo000oo—

Naruto had never looked this pale since that time he fell in a barrel of sun block. Sasuke heard an animal that was making a cry suddenly get cut off. Hinata, in a moment of bravery, decided to use the Byakugan to see inside it. She turned white before saying, "That snake is _big_."

"I get the feeling we are not in for a short stay," Naruto said.

"...Danger: do not enter," Sasuke said, seeing the sign every five feet along the fence. "She is going to take us in here... My book is going to be ruined."

"What book," Hinata asked.

Naruto covered Sasuke's mouth. "Just a book I gave him for his birthday. One that he definitely should not have with him." That last part was directed at Sasuke.

Hinata looked questioningly at them for a moment... Before a look of utter fear covered her face and she started running away.

"What we do," Sasuke asked. A blast of hot air hit the back of there necks. They slowly turned around and saw a giant man eating centipede looking at them from across the fence. It opened it's mouth, revealing row upon row of the sharpest teeth they have ever seen. Then it pulled back and started to lunge at them.

The two screamed, turned, and ran. "Remember what they said in that movie," Sasuke yelled.

"What!?"

"I don't have to out run it, I have to out run you!"

—oo000oo—

"Rin, may I ask why you suggested Anko," the Hokage asked.

Rin looked up from her paperwork. She was actually expecting him to ask earlier. "We both know her better than most. Hell, we probably treat her the best as well. The reason is simple. Hinata needs confidence. While Sasuke and Naruto both have a trait that needs to be nurtured. They hate traitors to no end. Now, if there is any Jonin that has both of those, it is Anko."

Sarutobi nodded there. "But she will no doubt put them through the Forest of Death to get out of it."

This time, Rin nodded in agreement. "But if they come out of it as a team, imagine how determine they will be for it. I mean, let's face it, C rank missions are nothing to any amount of spent in there."

"To true," he replied.

—oo000oo—

"Jii-san..." Naruto said, oddly subdued when he came in. "Do you know where uncle is?"

"He isn't peeping on the women at the hot springs?"

"No."

"Nor atop the tower with his binoculars?"

"No."

"By the river, watching them slash around in the water?"

"No."

"Watching them get a tan in the park by the lake?"

"Checked there twice."

"At a bar, sweet talking a woman far to young for him?"

"Checked all his hang outs. He isn't at a one of them. Think maybe he left already?"

"No, I saw him just this morning. I wonder where he is? ...Did you check the lingerie store?"

"The security guards said they haven't thrown him out all day. They are actually starting to get worried that he either died or found a way to go unnoticed," Naruto said, shaking his head. "And the manager hired former ninja for the job just last month."

Now even Sarutobi was worried. He raised his hand and the hidden ANBU in the room appeared. "Find Jiriaya." They disappeared again.

"Rin, can you come in here a moment... Rin?" The Hokage stood up, walked to the door, and saw her desk empty. "Great first Jiriaya, now Rin..." He hit the wall. "Check every sleazy hotel in ten miles of the village! If he is trying what I think he is..."

"Trying what," Jiriaya asked.

In his hands were several bags. Rin was standing right beside him. "Thank you for the help, Jiriaya-sama. I have a big dinner planned and it would have been hard to get this here without some help."

Naruto glared at him. "Were you trying anything with Rin-chan, uncle?"

He shivered. "No kiddo, not with her. She is more than pretty enough for any guy to. But after that salt..." He set the bags on the desk. "So, you guys looking for me?"

"I was," Naruto said. He handed the envelope to him. "My sensei said you have to sign it for me to take the test."

Jiriaya arched an eyebrow at that. He took it, pulled out the papers, and read them. His eyebrows steadily climbed higher as he read. Then he began to chuckle. "Good luck, kiddo," he said as he signed it. Then he grinned. "And tell Anko-chan I said hi."

—oo000oo—

"Mom, I was placed on a team with Naruto and Hinata after all."

Mikoto smiled. "That is good news. Who is your instructor?"

"Mitarashi Anko."

"...Anko?"

"You know her?"

"Yes. She was the apprentice of a traitor."

"She did say she had someone she wanted to kill."

Mikoto sighed. "And if I know Anko as well as I think, she gave you something for me to sign."

Sasuke nodded. "She did." He gave it to her. "Naruto thinks we might be gone for a bit."

Mikoto nodded while she was reading. "He seems to be smarter than he lets on. But we already knew that." She finished and signed at the bottom. "But as he is so fond of saying, no worries."

—oo000oo—

Hinata knocked on the door to her Hiashi's study. "Father, may I come in?"

"Enter."

Hinata walked in and stopped a foot from his desk, just as protocal demanded. "Father, I am to give this to you. You must sign it if I am to take the test tomorrow."

Hiashi took the letter, didn't bother reading it, and signed at the line on the bottom. "Is there anything else?"

"No father."

"Then you are dismissed."

Hinata stood up, sad that he once again really just looked through her. She walked to the door. "...Good night father. I love you." He didn't reply.

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes: If you are wonder why Naruto said "Oto", I am doing the same thing as Kenshin from Ronin Kenshin with "Oro". Just Naruto will say Oto instead. The songs used in this chapter is "Who let the dogs out" and "Devil went down to Georgia", the 'I'll take your bet' part Naruto said. I do not own these songs nor Naruto. I'm just not that lucky. What did you think of this chapter. Too much, not enough or got it down?


	4. Chapter 4

"Hello," a masked jonin said when he walked in.

"You're late," Kiba and Sakura yelled at him.

"...The ability to be on time is a direct reflection of how you view the people you are meeting," Shino said. "If you are to be our sensei, be on time next time."

The jonin put his hand to his chin. "Well, I can try. But you never know where a person gets lost at. Meet me up on the roof in two minutes."

Kiba and Sakura started to leave. "Wait," Shino said. "He does not view us with enough respect to be prompt, we will view him with the same respect."

—oo000oo—

Kakashi was the notoriously late, not the notoriously waiting. And he did not like it. When finally they showed up, he said, "My first impression of all of you is that I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual," Kiba said. "I would rather have that new kunoichi my mother told me had just made rank."

"We do need a genjutsu specialist," Shino said, his voice still even and unemotional. Sakura didn't say anything.

Kakashi gritted his teeth. "I was going to go through introductions. But I think I won't. I'll get right to my favorite part. Tomorrow is a test to see if you stay genin. If you fail, you get sent back here for more training. And I have never passed a team." He enjoyed the looks on the faces of both Kiba and Sakura. Sadly, Shino showed no difference. "But for once, I hope you pass. Because if I do, I am going to make your lives..."

He felt something wet hit his leg and the smell of urine filled the air. Looking down, he saw the Inuzuka's dog peeing on him. "Oh, you three have better pass tomorrow. Because I will put you through hell. I want to be the one to make you quit."

Sakura and Kiba took a determined look. "My family is nothing but ninja! To stay a genin or quit is a shame I will never look down," Kiba yelled. Before putting Akamaru in his coat and telling him he was a good boy.

"I have a lot of things to make up for... And I am not going to let some ninja that clearly doesn't deserve the rank he has keep me from it," Sakura said.

"...I believe they mean bring on your test and your hell," Shino said to him. "We are not going back."

He clenched his fist so hard his knuckles popped. And Shino decided to rub salt into the wounds. "A ninja that loses control of their emotions is little more than a rampant animal."

"...I am Hatake Kakashi. And from this day forward, you will speak to me with respect."

All three of them said the same reply. "Respect is earned, not given." Kakashi vowed right then and there to do what he hadn't done in near thirteen years. Show up on time. So he would have more time to beat the hell out of them.

—oo000oo—

Naruto bolted up right, a kunai in hand. He was asleep just moments ago before something woke him up. The sound came again, from the window. He relaxed as he stood up and opened it. "Who is it?"

"Naruto...I need to ask you about a jonin," Sakura called.

Naruto arched an eyebrow. This was un-expected.

—oo000oo—

He was dressed in his normal clothing and was outside with her. "So, who do you want to know about?"

"Hatake Kakashi," Sakura told him. "I know you know allot about the higher ranking ninja in the village. I think I might be in trouble with him."

"Why?" She told him. And Naruto went wide eyed before grinning. "No wonder that went over so badly with him. Hmm. He is Copy Ninja Kakashi, as he is known in the bingo books. This is because during one of his missions, he gained one of the rare Sharigan eyes."

"What is a Sharigan?"

Naruto frowned before remembering that Kekkei Genkai study was not part of the academy criteria. "It is the Blood Line ability of the Uchiha clan. It allows the owner to not only copy any nin and genjutsu they see but also cast genjutsu without hand signs with enough skill, just by making eye contact. It gives them near total recall of anything they see with it. Including kenjutsu, the art of weapon fighting. It has no rival in that department. The greatest threat to it is really the Hyuuga Byakugan, a blind ninja, or a taijutsu fighter with great speed."

"He has one of these?"

"Yes. He also has an arsenal of around a thousand jutsus to turn on you."

"Oh my god," Sakura said. "I made him mad at me..."

"Nothing you can do about that now," Naruto said. "One more piece of information I think you should know. He along with my first sensei, Rin-chan, were the students of the Fourth." That made her throw up. Naruto kept her up right while she emptied her stomach. "Feel better?"

"Some what."

"Now, what to do against him. First off, if he ever takes you serious enough to lift up his headband, run. You might not have much of a chance but it is a chance. Second, he keeps his Sharigan covered because he can't turn it off. But it doesn't take chakra when it doesn't see anything. As he isn't perfectly aligned with it, it takes a great deal more than it would an Uchiha.

"So that is his greatest strength and weakness," Sakura said.

"Yes."

"...I really have no chance against him, do I?"

"Not in the least. Not if it is just to fight."

"What do I do?"

"I think the problem is what you just said. I. Maybe you should go speak with your team and ask them what do 'we' do. Give them what I told you. And don't be afraid to make it up as you go along."

"...A team effort," Sakura said when the realization hit her. "That is the answer to the test, isn't it?"

Naruto nodded at the sound reasoning. "It would make sense. If you do fight him, then that would be the only way to win. Maybe you need not even win. After all, you are still genin to him being a jonin."

Sakura hugged him. "Thank you, Naruto-kun!" She stepped back and saw a shocked expression on his face. "I had a talk with Iruka-sensei after you left. And in the end I decided I would start over new. That is if you will give me the chance."

Naruto smiled. "Sure. Now you better go get Kiba and Shino. It is late so you don't have much time. And I doubt you didn't make him mad enough to still be late."

She nodded. "Good nigh." She ran to Kiba's home, it was closer.

Naruto was about to head inside when he felt a familiar presence close by. "Hello uncle."

"Now, when I came to check up on how ready you were, I didn't think I would see you putting the moves on a kunoichi."

"She came asking advice."

"And giving advice and forgiveness is a great start to a relationship, my student," Jiriaya said, sage like.

Naruto just sighed, "Good night uncle."

—oo000oo—

Sasuke, Naruto, and Hinata arrived at Forty Four right on time. And not five minutes later, Anko showed up as well. "Follow me." She went up to a gate, unlocked it, and walked in. Following her, she led them to a small clearing in the trees some hundred feet from the edge. "Now here is your test. You will stay in here for twenty four hours, the next twenty four hours. After which time, you will enter the tower in the center. If at any point you feel your life is too much at risk, you can take this key," she gave them each a master gate key, "and leave. But, should you feel you are up to it, you can make your way to the tower.

"Now the rules. This is pass or fail, the tower or the gates. Also, you cannot enter the tower, nor one kilometer radius of it until eight tomorrow morning. At which time, you have two hours to enter it. Fail to enter in that time, you fail the test as well. You are going to survive by your wits, and whatever gear you brought with you, alone. There is no going back now to get ready. Any questions?"

Naruto raised his hand. "What if we are to stubborn to quit or caught to fast to head back?"

"Then that should be obvious," Anko said, "you die. Those envelopes were permission slips. They explained exactly what I have planned along with the order not to tell you what it is. It also said that if they felt you were not ready for this, they were advised not to sign it."

Hinata almost cried. "My father did not care enough to read it."

"...Then I leave it up to you. You know yourself the best after all," Anko said. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke, and Hinata. You have your mission, twenty-four hours behind enemy lines. No help is coming should you find yourself in trouble. You are on your own." That was the best way she could some it up that they could understand. "Right now, accept or reject?"

"No way am I quiting," Sasuke said.

"...Has journeyed long, singing his song," Naruto gave as his yes, "in search of Eldorado. But he grew old, this knight so bold, his heart a shadow. Fell when he found, no spot of ground, that looked like Eldorado."

Hinata understood what he meant. A warrior could accept his mission for years, they could accept their for a day. "I... I, Hyuuga Hinata, will complete the mission put before me," she told her sensei.

Anko grinned, she could grow to like these brats. "Then go. I will see you in twenty four hours."

—oo000oo—

Sakura, Kiba, and Shino stood looking at Kakashi. He just arrived and was still eying them. "You are to retrieve a bell. And I have only two of them. Meaning one of you will be sent back," he told them.

"Trying to pit us against each other," Shino whispered to them.

"The one that is will also be tied to that stump and made to watch as I eat their lunch."

"And if none of us get a bell," Sakura asked.

"Then none of you pass and all of you return..."

Kiba spoke up now. "Shino, Sakura, I will go back. It won't take me long to become a genin again." They nodded.

"Though I would rather myself go," Sakura said. "It isn't hard to guess that I am the weakest one here, physically."

Kakashi arched his eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to, Kiba? Didn't you just say yesterday that it is a dishonor to fail or stay a genin?"

"And it is a far worst thing not to give your all for the pack," Kiba replied.

"...But Kakashi is right," Shino said. "It is more logical that I head back. My parents will understand."

"Boys," Sakura said, pulling out a kunai, "how about we decide that after we have gotten our hands on those bells."

"True, deciding before then is pointless," Shino said.

Kiba grinned, before crouching down to Akamaru. "Ready," he asked Kakashi.

"...How do you even think you are going to get them? You are just genin."

"Simple," they all said. "There are three of us working together." Sakura had to say it. "And we know your greatest strength and weakness."

"Do you now?"

"Copy Ninja Kakashi," Shino said. "My father has worked with you on occasion. He told me you are a master strategist."

"Signed the contract with the dogs," Kiba said. "And has almost as good as mine for it. I know because my mom told me."

"And the Sharigan under your headband," Sakura said. "We know we are way out of our league. But maybe not fighting together." She kept from smiling as she saw Kiba feed Akamaru a soldier pill unseen while she was talking. Her genjutsu she cast earlier kept his fur white. She also saw the grass shifting as a thousand bugs were moving to surround the white haired jonin. "So why don't we cut the talking and get on with it?"

"Fine... Go."

Sakura sent chakra through one of her ninja wires she had set in place last night. One of several she had set. A kunai shot from a tree, dragging a chain of explosive tags. It wrapped around him and exploded.

"Human, Beast Ninpou!" Both Kiba and Akamaru transformed into a hybrid of each other. They were each holding something in their palm. "Fang over Fang!" The jumped, spinning so faster, they could barely see where they were going. But they didn't go for the smoke filled position. They smelled him elsewhere. They hit the bushes, flushing him out. Kakashi was too busy jumping back to notice the two very small things that were thrown at him.

Just as fast as the initial attack took place, they were gone. Kakashi looked around for a few moments but didn't see or smell them. Shrugging, he dusted himself off. He almost didn't get out of Sakura's trap in time. And almost getting hit by Kiba... He didn't like it, that was a lot of almost. He sniffed his clothes and frowned under his mask. A very unique sent was coming from them now. So unique, a cub could follow it back to him. Sakura had added something to those notes.

A bug landed on his arm and he brushed it off. Then another, followed by several more. Then the swarm appeared. Knowing that he couldn't fight those, he decided the better part of valor right now would be to run. So, he jumped away but they kept following him.

Sakura only had to wait. She had a wire tied to each finger, all of them leading to traps. She just needed Kiba and Shino to direct him to the spots she could attack him from.

—oo000oo—

'Damn it! I underestimated them!' Kakashi was breathing hard and looked worst for wear. 'I may actually have to use it.' He lifted his headband and began to notice things that slipped his grasp before. Particularly the two insects that were just hanging onto him. "Females, no doubt." He flicked both of them off. 'That stops Shino for a minute. Not much I can do to Kiba. But Sakura and those damn traps have to be stopped.'

He looked around for any sign of her. His eye widened when he saw he was only a foot away from the kill zone of another of her traps. Taking a step back, he pulled a trip wire. Another trap was revealed, hidden by the first. This was a small stack of explosive notes with around fifty shurikens tied around it. And the notes exploded.

Kiba looked from behind his tree and saw the damage that particular trap did. "Hell hath no fury like a woman's scorn," he said. Where once a grouping of trees once stood, a broken pile of splinters and tinder now was. And that was just from the explosion. Shurikens were thrown everywhere and into everything. His tree included. Sakura had warned them about that but to actually see it...

A snap of a twig alerted him of it just in time. Kiba ducked a punch from Kakashi. "You stand in the open too much," Kakashi taunted. Kiba threw his own punch. Followed by a kick and then a round house punch. All of them missed and now Kakashi was behind him, his hands in the Tiger Seal. "I have been waiting to use this on one of you! Thousand Years of..."

Akamaru hit him with a Fang over Fang. As he was flying through the air, another trap was launched but these didn't explode. The wire just wrapped around him, the tags waiting to go off. Finally, Shino's bugs surrounded him and started to drain him of his chakra.

"I suggest you surrender," Shino said.

"No," Kakashi said. He began to flash through hand signs and the air turned freezing cold around him. The insects slowed then fell asleep, falling off him. "Now for you." His eye widened when he heard the chink of the bells. They came from behind him, not on him. Spinning around, he saw Sakura holding a kunai and the bells on severed strings.

"We win," she said before tossing the bells to her teammates.

Kakashi frowned, "So you did. Congratulations, all of you pass."

—oo000oo—

Hiashi gave the same frown that a certain masked jonin gave that morning. Something was off, as it had been for most of the day. He called a servant in. "Is there something out of the ordinary happening right now?"

"Lady Hinata has not been seen since she went to take her genin test this morning, sir. ...If that is what it is that has your concern."

"What what do you mean by that," Hiashi demanded.

"That you didn't even care enough about your daughter to read what you were sending her into," the woman replied. "I mean, that was a permission slip to go into the Forest of Death. And you didn't even notice they said that in big, bold letters. Do you even recognize her as family?"

Hiashi stood, ready to fight. "No servant would speak as thus! Who are you!?"

The servant puffed in smoke, revealing a woman with dark hair wearing a tiger mask. She wore the uniform of an ANBU. "I am not here to fight. I am here because of your choices. Your daughter's instructor was told you didn't read it. She is, even now, in danger and you had no knowledge. Her instructor has spoken with the Hokage about this. And he might be considering removing her from your clan for her own safety."

"He can't do that," Hiashi said.

She gave him a strained laugh. "You are very wrong there. He has every right to as she is a ninja and her safety is his prime concern and obviously not your's. But he is trying to come up with a way to not have to resort to this. Against the advice of some unbiased individuals."

"And they would be?"

"Rin-sama, Jiriaya-sama, a captain of ANBU black opts. Myself and my team."

He ground his teeth in anger. "You have no right..."

"I thought I covered this. Anyway, I will put it simple, you have one more chance to make things right with your daughter or you will never see her again. Am I understood?"

"The Hokage will hear of this."

"Tell him," she encouraged. "You will find that at the moment, I am keeping supporters from pushing this through. The fact is that we have already compiled a list of charges against you to her through the statement of witnesses."

Hiashi scowled openly at her. He would have her mask mounted on the wall. And his 'daughter' would feel his anger as well for betraying her like this.

—oo000oo—

"Look out!" Naruto pushed Hinata out of the way so the snake just hit the tree. "We need to run now!" His voice started to take a shrill sound to it. Soon, it was causing everyone pain. "Sasuke, get away from that tree!"

As he ran, he felt why. The ground was growing very loose. So loose in fact, the roots no longer had a strong enough hold to keep it steady. And when Naruto ran and punched it, it started to fall. Right on the giant snake. It thrashed around to free itself but it was pinned good. And it was also bleeding.

The three of them looked at it for a moment. Then they began to cheer. "We did it," Naruto yelled.

"Oh course," Sasuke said, though he had been a little nervous for a moment.

"Ano... How did you do that," Hinata asked.

"Huh? Oh, that. I just aimed my voice at the base of the tree and started raising the pitch until the earth lost cohesiveness. Pretty much, it became quicksand so the roots had nothing to hold it up directly around it." He went eyes wide when another roar was heard.

Hinata activated her Byakugan. "I don't see anything! Whatever it is must have evolved to avoid chakra detection as well! It must smell the blood!" They all looked at the still living snake. It wasn't going to die from the tree. But whatever it was that roared sounded big and hungry.

"Hinata," Sasuke said. "I know this will be hard but I want you to keep your Byakugan up until you simply can't anymore."

"I will do my best," Hinata said. "I see a river in that direction. There is a tree with a washed out den underneath it."

"That will be a good place to hide for a bit," Naruto said. Despite all the monsters here, he was in the best shape. Because part of the harshness of this forest lies in that there are so many sounds of creatures in a life or death struggle. But sounds take a whole new meaning to Naruto.

"Let's go before whatever that is gets here then," Sasuke told them. Hinata nodded, glancing around. If that thing had grown to avoid to be seen by the Byakugan, how many other things could as well?

They ran through the trees, on look out for anything that moved. Naruto kept clicking his tongue, also seeing things around them. Sasuke wished he had something to contribute to that as well but he knew that he had to leave it to the people that did. That is what a team did. Work together to make the best use of their strengths and also make new ones.

—oo000oo—

The centipede ripped into the flesh of the snake. The blood tasted sweet to it and was the best part. Other hunters had started to make a move on the easy kill but he made his presence known, they left. He was the strongest in the forest! Even those mighty hairless apes with their gray, sharp claws were no match for him!

But they always put up the best fight for such small creatures... Yes, yes, he could smell them around this meal. They were here. They were here in his forest again. He should go eat them. Tear their flesh apart and slowly digest them. No, no, leave them. Fore these ones were leaving him plenty of meals. Yes, yes, kill them. They think they can hide from him. Nothing can hide from him. He was the strongest!

The centipede continued to eat. He still had a meal here. If still hungry, go kill them, it decided.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: And there we have chapter four. I'm sure you are wondering why have that last part. How could a centipede even think those thinks. Well, you are talking about a brain the size of a car engine. Limited thought isn't that far fetched then. And as you could clearly see, it is very limited. And not the most organized. I kind of got inspiration for this from the book, 'Streams of Silver' by R.A. Salvatore. When the Hunters of the Hall met a giant worm with much the same thinking capabilities.

So, think team eight was able to win the respect of Kakashi? Or should it become a love/hate relationship. That they just love to hate each other? That will be hard to work but I think I can do it. But no guarantees.

This is not a Naruhina. I like the coupling allot but I already have one of those. I don't know who it will be yet though. By the way, I do have the main plot thought out. This and a few more chapters are just the ones that will explain the strengths and mindsets of the relevant characters. I think I should be able to get into it by the end of the Wave Arc.


	5. Chapter 5

Hinata was nervous. Not 'Naruto-kun is smiling at me' nervous. Not even 'her father had just demanded her to appear before him' nervous. This was way beyond those. She was out right terrified that she over estimated herself and that even now, things were moving in to kill them without her seeing them. Something grabbed her shoulder and she screamed.

"Hinata-chan! Relax, it is just me," Naruto said as he cut off her scream. She started crying and hugged him. "Hinata-chan, what is wrong?"

"I, I, I want to go home!" She cried harder into his shoulder. "I couldn't even see you move behind me! How can I be of use to this team!? I can't take this forest anymore!"

Naruto let her cry, sometimes you just need to do it. "Hinata-chan, you ran out of chakra to maintain it about an hour ago. Didn't you notice?" She shook her head. "It must be chakra exhaustion. I apologize. I noticed your eyes return to normal but you still kept watch. I thought you were just determined to go until your turn was finished." He picked her up and set her on the pile of leaves that he had gotten for a bed. She didn't even notice, she was crying so hard. He took off his coat, not hesitating in putting it over her, before taking watch.

"Have you ever felt such a strong urge to protect someone," Sasuke asked. He had been woken up by her scream. Naruto just nodded. "You know she might very well be in love with you. Everyone calls me lucky. But you are the one that has what I want the most."

Naruto shook his head. "She can't be in love with me," Naruto said.

"Why not? Don't you believe me?"

"That isn't it... When people call me a demon, they aren't lying."

Sasuke sighed. "This forest is getting to you mate. You, a demon?"

"Sasuke, I was told the truth not all that long ago. From a traitor but he told me more of the truth than even Nii-san. I want you to know as well."

Sasuke looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"The Kyuubi wasn't killed, it was only beaten. The Fourth Hokage sealed it inside a child, me. The traitor proved it by making me see a seal that is hidden from view whenever I am not using chakra. It is on my stomach. Not long later, Hawk-san charged him with revealing a S class secret."

Naruto took a steadying breath. "But not before saying this. That the Kyuubi devoured the soul of the boy, loosing his memories when he did. That there is only the Kyuubi now. Innocent that I maybe of those crimes, I still did them."

"Naruto, you are no more the Kyuubi than I am," Sasuke said. "Would the Kyuubi be worried about something like this?"

"But he said I lost my memory."

"There are somethings deeper than memories. And that includes evil. And what is the worst thing you have ever done?"

Naruto smiled as he remembered that. "I put permanent pink hair dye in a shampoo bottle and put it I a store. I could not believe that happened to Sakura and her family. Ha ha! If only I had known that her family had an open air pool and shared the same bottle! I might have warned her."

Sasuke looked at him, shocked. "I was talking about painting Iruka using the Big Head no Jutsu on the council's homes... I always thought that was natural. Ino asked her once if she dyed it and she said no."

"Oh yeah, you probably don't remember but she used to have chocolate brown hair. Not only that but she always had a candy bar on her. Everyone used to call her 'Hershey'."

Sasuke laughed at that. "While that was mean..." he had to stop from laughing again. "It was by no means malicious or evil. Think about it. He was a traitor. Did he want something from you?"

"He tried to get me to steal a scroll."

"There you go, we have established him not only as a traitor, but a liar and thief. No way could he have been telling the truth."

"And what about Hawk-san?"

That deflated Sasuke a little. "He was probably still lying. At least about you being the Kyuubi. I mean, the Fourth was the greatest before he was Hokage, don't you think he might have known what he was doing?"

Naruto grinned. "You know, that never occurred to me."

"Because you are a dobe," Sasuke said. "But you are my families' dobe. And we would have you no other way."

"But what about Hinata-chan? Didn't you say you care for her too?"

"I did. I mean, she is sweet and kind. An angel really."

"But we can't both have her," Naruto said, grateful that she had fallen asleep not ten seconds after being laid down.

"Well, we could always fight it... Did it just get too quiet?"

Naruto snapped his head back to looking out the opening. He was right, all the sounds have stopped. "What the hell is going on?" What sounded like a skittering noise reached their ears. Then came the sound of something big hitting the tree. Really big because the whole thing shuttered and several roots broke. It fell over and Sasuke and Naruto looked up at what made it. It was the centipede from before. "Damn..." It gave a roar before rearing back.

Naruto and Sasuke jumped to the side and it tried to follow them.

"Naruto, can you make that thing's brain explode or something!?"

"No, but I might have something. I made it after I heard about the legend of the Banshee."

"Okay, Hinata... Hinata? OH SHIT!" She was still out cold, clinging to Naruto's coat. The centipede tilted it's head when it saw they weren't looking at it. It turned it's head and followed their gaze. And there she was. It would had smiled if it had lips. It started down to eat her.

"NO!" Naruto grabbed the back of it's body. There were really two points in his life. One, where he hated that he ate that fruit. The other, like now, he couldn't have been happier. Because that fruit was one of the ones that changed his body. Which means it also gave him great strength as well. He pulled and stopped it from moving forward. It lazily turned it's head and lifted up it's tail, pulling him off the ground.

Naruto looked down at the ground then back into the many eyes of the beast. He didn't stop it, he surprised it. It whipped it's tail in the air and Naruto flew up and then back down. Right into it's mouth.

"Naruto!"

—oo000oo—

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Naruto screamed as he slid down it's throat. He tried desperately to grab something to keep from going down but there was nothing. The strong smell of stomach acid was getting closer. "Damn it! I dodge all those fangs to either drown or dissolve! Spit me back out! Oto Oto Wail!" He let out the loudest scream he could. It probably could have killed a human if they were in front of him. But this wasn't a human and he was inside it instead. All he did was shook it up.

The walls of the esophagus started to close in around him. He was getting closer to the stomach. "Damn it! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Ten appeared around him and the effectively clogged the tube. "Whew," they all said.

On the outside, the centipede started heaving and thrashing around. It was choking. It saw the river and dunked it's head in, ignoring Sasuke's attempts to save his friend. It swallowed gallons all at once.

The water fell on Naruto, which started to make them all loose their grip. "Oh no! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu," all ten yelled.

—oo000oo—

The centipede looked to be in great pain as his chest expanded. It started at one part and traveled to his mouth and tail. Then it exploded. A traumatized Naruto and his clones stood there, covered in this green goo. "Sasuke, don't you ever tell people where I have been." The clones were dispelled while he jumped in the river to get it off.

—oo000oo—

Anko couldn't be laughing any harder. She couldn't help it, Naruto was green. Not sick green, literally green! Right to his hair! "They told me you had a close one but this is ridiculous!"

"Who," Sasuke and Naruto asked darkly.

"You don't honestly think I would send a bunch of kids in alone, did you," she asked with a shrug. "You had an ANBU team follow you the whole way. Including a Hyuuga to watch you go down. My orders were if any of you made it close to the stomach of any creature, they were to kill it and get you out. Of course, you would have failed then. So I told them to give you guys a chance to save yourselves.

"Now, why do you have those pieces of the carapace?"

"Hinata couldn't see it. I think it would be good to keep track of something that is immune to the Byakugan," Naruto explained. He had that over his shoulder. Along with what remained of his guitar. He cried over that one. More than even the time Icharuka only had one bowl to give him and the part timer tripped, covering Naruto with the noodles.

Anko nodded, made since. "Well, your three pass. Hinata, I also know that you broke down in there..." She hesitated. "You are no less strong then these two for that. It was just too much. But I will understand if you want to quit right now and find another profession. As you passed, I won't make the other two go back to the academy if you do."

"Whoa, if one of us left, we would have all failed," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Anko replied. "There are teams for a reason. So that when one breaks down, the others are right there to help. A loner will never get far. So what do you want to do, Hinata?"

"...I will feel stress like that again, won't I?"

"Yes," Anko told her. She would not lie to them now. "But there will be a difference between then and now. Later, when you feel it again, you can look at it and laugh, saying you have fought worst. That as the greenest genin ever, you fought, and were ever swallowed by, some of the most fearsome monsters this side of the Fire Country. And that now, you have learned, have experience, and won't make the same mistakes again."

Hinata spent a long time thinking about it. Sasuke throwing one of his Fireball no Jutsu against a scorpion as big as a horse and the fire only darkened the shell. Naruto being eaten by the centipede. Herself, dodging that snake as it lunged over and over again to eat them. This last twenty four hours were hell. But they had survived it. Is that good enough reason to go on?

She started crying again. "Sasuke, Naruto-kun, will...will you help me get stronger? I don't want to be a burden like that again."

Naruto opened his mouth but Sasuke beat him to it. "Hinata, you were not a burden. How many of those things did we dodge because of you? We would have failed without you."

"Yeah," Naruto said. "Take a look at this." He motioned to his guitar. "This was a gift from my uncle. Common enough but irreplaceable to me. But it was worth losing to make sure you stayed with us."

She wrapped both of them in a hug. She would pass out for it later, she told herself, but she needed to do this now.

Naruto smiled before looking over at Anko-chan. "I think that is a yes."

—oo000oo—

Naruto was in an instrument shop, looking for a new one. He had placed his old guitar on the wall of his home, where he would forever keep it. He lost it to keep Hinata, more than fair. He had also thrown away the clothing he was wearing and got a new set out, including his coat. He liked his old one more but Hinata seemed to draw strength from it so he 'forgot' to ask for it back.

As he looked at the ones there, he thought about what he knew about them. For some reason, he instinctively knew how to play them, even without his Oto Oto powers. He just blamed it on the fruit.

He shook his head as he passed each of them. Seeing a sax, he picked it up, went to the counter to ask for a reed for it, and gave it a try. The tone that came out was a deep, baritone. One that pulled at the heart if done right. But it didn't sound right to him. Thanking the clerk, he put it back, and and started checking others.

He passed into the battle instruments and frowned a little. There was a kunai with a flute in the center. A guitar with a bladed base. And many other such weapons. But none of them seemed right to him. "Can I help you, young man," the manager asked. She was an elderly woman that moved to the village after the attack so she never bothered him.

"I..." Naruto sighed as he looked for the words. "I am looking for something that will complement me. That when I hear it and see it, it pulls at my heart string."

"What instrument?"

"Any, I can play them all."

She laughed. "Now that is a good joke. Really now, what do you play?"

"I told you, I can play them all. I'll show you. Name a song and instrument."

"Moonlight Sonata on the violin." She grabbed one from behind the counter, took it out of the case and gave it to him. "Play."

Naruto took all of thirty seconds to tune the instrument. Then he drew the bow across the string. Even without his powers, he could have played that song perfectly. Everyone in the store came to see him do it. And were they surprised. He even drew a crowd from outside. When he finished, he placed it back inside the case. "Believe me now?"

She only gaped at him and Naruto took it as disbelief. So he spotted a banjo and played a song on it. Followed by the cello. "Guitar," the manager challenged. Naruto grinned, if only she knew. He picked one out and tuned it.

"If you told me that you love me, I would feel so proud. If you let me hold you honey, I'd holler out loud. I'll never love another, even if I can. Oh come to me baby, I'm a one woman man.

"Oh, won't cha' let me baby just a kind a hang around? I'll always love you honey, and I'll never let you down. I'll never love another, even if I can. Oh come to me baby, I'm a one woman man.

"I'd climb the highest mountain if it reached up to the sky. To prove that I love you, I'd jump off and fly. I'd even swim the oceans, from shore to shore, to prove that I love you just a little bit more.

"Oh, won't cha' let me baby just a kind a hang around? I'll always love you honey, and I'll never let you down. I'll never love another, even if I can. Oh come to me baby, I'm a one woman man.

"Oh, won't cha' let me baby just a kind a hang around? I'll always love you honey, and I'll never let you down. I'll never love another, even if I can. Oh come to me baby, I'm a one woman man."

Naruto grinned as he finished before putting it back. "Where did you learn to do that," the woman asked.

"I have a natural affinity to music, it's my blood line. It just gave me this instinct for it. I still had to practice with them before I got this good."

She blinked. "Of all the blood lines I have heard, I never heard of something like that."

"There is more to it than that, but yeah," Naruto said, proud of his skill. "It actually comes from the Pirate's Ocean, if Jii-san is to be believed."

The woman thought about it for a moment. "I might have one after all. You held that guitar like an old friend."

"I had one, a gift from my godfather. Nothing really special except to what it meant to me."

"But before you can have it, you will need to play it first." She went in the back and came out with the oddest guitar Naruto has ever seen. It also did just as he asked. Because this guitar was shaped from the bones of a giant fish. "This once belong to the pirate Mikau. Not only did it have a sound for him that broke the hearts of all who listened, he used it in combat like nothing else ever seen on the ocean." She offered it to him.

Naruto took it and gave it a once over. "The bones are hollow... To reverberate the sound back, enhancing it?"

"You are good," she said. "You haven't even plucked a string yet."

He still eyed it. "You said it made the sound for him. As if no one else has."

"Because when he died, the sound in that guitar died. Ever since, it has been a hallow, mournful note that has come from it. If you can play it as it once was, it is yours."

Naruto nodded. Sitting down on the floor, he set it on his legs, and checked every part of it. First were the strings. They appeared water worn. But when he ran a finger along it, he felt no damage. It was the sinew of a shark. He tested each string and found they did not need replacing, despite the years since it was last really played. He took his time, tightening or loosening the strings until he felt they were right.

"Come on, hurry," someone urged him. But he continued taking his time.

The preservation lacquer on the bones needed to be retouched. And it was much different than what was used for wood. His hand brushed the end of one of the bones and he felt it easily cut his skin. Moving it away so as to keep the blood from it, he leaned it against his shoulder while he bandaged the wound. It would be gone in less than ten minutes so he wasn't worried. He took it back in his hands and spun it around. He tapped each bone, checking that they were not loose. When he found one, he asked for the needed tool to fix it. When given the Allan wrench, he slid it in, and tightened the screw. He did it to two more and tested the others before he was satisfied that those were in place again.

He didn't even notice the manager was nodding approvingly at his actions. "Oh, I'm sorry ma'am," Naruto said, still not looking up. "I am Uzumaki Naruto."

"Call me Ruto. What do you think so far?"

"That all the others that have tried to make this theirs have not once looked beyond the strings."

"You are right."

Naruto stood back up, offering her the guitar. "This is obviously priceless. I can't take it from you."

She smiled. "Again, you are right. And in more ways than one. That was my great grandfather's. We have kept it, passing it along to those in the family that can appreciate such an unique guitar. But those have been growing fewer. But you can see it, can't you? The soul that is inside it."

Naruto nodded a little. I can see that it desperately wants to be played again."

"And that is all you need to do. Now play it."

Naruto looked back to it and nodded. His fingers brushed the strings as he started the next song. "I'm a rolling stone, all alone and lost. For a life of sin, I have paid the cost. When I pass by, all the people say, 'he's just another guy on the lost highway'.

"I was just a lad, barely twenty two. Neither good nor bad, just a kid like you. And now I'm lost, too late to pray. Lord, I've paid the cost, on the lost highway.

"Now boys, don't start to run around, on this road of sin. Are you sorrow bound? Take my advice or you'll curse the day you started rolling day that lost highway."

It was a slow song, one of his favorites. But hearing it now, left him breathless. He had never heard it like that before. Half of him wanted to take the guitar and run, never looking back. The other half demanded he give it back. He didn't deserve... No, no one deserved such an instrument. It was to pure for any mortals hands, it's voice too beautiful.

"It has been so long," Ruto said, a small tear in her eye. "What do you think now?"

"That I run away with her, or give her back for her to be put where no one that isn't good enough can even dream of playing her. No person could ever pull from her the voice she really has." Naruto didn't even notice he referred to it as a person now. "And no person should have to live with that knowledge. That as beautiful as they can play her, she is holding back more."

Ruto grinned. "That, I am told, is the same thing my great grandfather Mikau said. But he kept her anyway. And kept her so close, they became like lovers, nearly. He finally did unlock her true voice. And many of singer and musicians quit in knowing they will never be that good." She looked around and saw that many were teary eyed over his song.

"...I can't swim," Naruto mused. "And yet, everywhere I turn, I see things that remind me of when I could."

Ruto nodded at the gravity of that. She knew that he had not meant to say that aloud. Such a weakness from a boy that few cared for. Well, someone might get it in their head to use it. So she was not going to keep Fuka-hone from her chosen player. "Naruto, that is Fuka-hone. Have you ever heard of the sword Samehada? It is a sword that is very much alive and only lets certain people wield it. This guitar is of the same make. She only let's certain people play her fully. What you have done today, is more than I have heard since I was a child. I want you to take her. And..."

She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "And she will let you breath under water if you get her to reveal to you her true voice. And as she is also from the Pirate Ocean, I think she would have no one else."

Naruto nodded, his eyes never leaving Fuka-hone. He stood and finally looked around for a strap that would do this instrument justice. Ruto gave him one made of shark skin. "They are all yours... For a price though. When finally you have called her true voice out, I want you to come and play me a song." Naruto nodded with enthusiasm, lovingly put the guitar on his back, and ran all the way to the tower to show Jii-san.

—oo000oo—

The sound of the guitar even reached the training ground not that far away. One person in particular felt it's pull. Neji heard it and stopped training. Lee was about to ask why when he heard it. Even Gai stopped his talk of flames of youth for the song. The voice was lost at the distance but the song was still heard.

When it was over, Lee looked at his sensei, teammate Tenten, then to Neji. And what he saw then scared him. Neji had broken down and was crying.

"Neji...is everything alright?"

"I don't know... I just started thinking about my father and then how I treated my cousin. I couldn't keep them in."

Gai nodded. "They say that not only music a voice of the soul, it has the power to heal it. Tell me, Neji, do you feel regret for those?"

"...Yes. I miss my father to no end. But that is no excuse for what I have done to Hinata."

Tenten grinned, this was a good change. "Maybe you should go apologize to her." She didn't need to say it twice. Neji nodded, excused himself, and ran back home.

—oo000oo—

"Kushina, I have some bad news for you," Sasuke said to his little sister. This was going to break her heart. "I'm afraid that Naruto's guitar was broken while we were gone."

Before she could even begin to cry about that, they heard a guitar right outside. They rushed to a window and saw him standing there. "Heya," Naruto said, holding up Fuka-hone. "I thought I'd come by and play Kushina's favorite song."

The girl ran outside like a mad woman. Naruto rarely just came by to do that so she didn't wait. Naruto started it and played right through it without her once even blinking. "Wow! That sounded... I don't know. Nii-san, what did it sound like?"

"Better," he said. "And it even held your attention so strongly, you stayed awake." He looked back to Naruto. "You better go show Hinata. She is still crying that your guitar was broken because of her."

—oo000oo—

Neji was about to open the doors to the estate when someone called out to him. "Hey, wait!"

"Can I help you?"

"Yes... I am Naruto, Hinata-chan's teammate. I was hoping I could go talk to her."

"I was just about to go talk to her myself. Come with me. I am her cousin, Neji."

"A pleasure," Naruto said.

Neji waved a servant over. "Where is Lady Hinata?"

"Her father just summoned her to his chambers," the man said.

They thanked him and walked over to the room. They knocked and got a, "Go away immediately!"

"Lord Hiashi, I wish to have a word with your daughter, Lady Hinata."

"She isn't here, leave!"

"But the servant..." Neji narrowed his eyes and activate his Byakugan. His eyes widened and he kicked open the door. Hiashi had Hinata's limp body against the wall by her throat.

Naruto grew very mad, very quick. His eyesight grew red as he saw Hinata drop her arms from where she was trying to stop him from choking her. "I will kill you!"

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: And so, the already confused boy is about his identity is about to get a heavier piece on the scale. And this one will be the Kyuubi's chakra reaching out of him.

I don't plan on killing Hinata. I can't, I like shy girls just too much for that. Call it a weakness. But this does present the perfect opportunity to do something I am planning. And I know that Hiashi becomes a good father later on. But I am not letting that happen. Now, you are probably wondering why am I going so much into Hinata if this isn't a Naruhina? Because while I know who I want Naruto with, what to do about Hinata? Then Sasuke just fell in my lap. Give her to Sasuke. Get a slight love triangle going and tip the scales to him.

Fuka-hone (Fue-ka hoe-nay') means Shark Bone. As for what it looks like, think of Majora's Mask, Zora form.

Now, the song from the last chapter was a poem by Edgar Allan Poe, El Dorado. This chapter's songs were sung by Johnny Horton. The first is 'One Woman Man'. The second is 'Lost Highway'.


	6. Chapter 6

Naruto swung his fist as hard as he could at Hiashi. He ducked so Naruto hit the wall and crushed it. With nothing behind her, both Hinata and her father fell forward. Neji ran forward, grabbed his cousin and ran backwards. "Naruto, we have to run!"

"NO! I am going to kill him!"

"He is a master as the Gentle Palms! Flight is the only way to secure Hinata's safety!"

"You will not be able to run far enough," Hiashi said as he stood up. He activated the Cage Bird Seal, making Neji fall to his knees in pain. "Hinata will die for betraying the Hyuuga clan. And you two will die for interfering."

"She didn't betray her clan," Naruto roared. "She wants to get stronger to impress you and be a good leader for it!" His voice dripped with how much he wanted his blood.

"And the ANBU that came to see me about charges being brought up against me by her?"

"You idiot! She told our sensei that you didn't read her orders! It was our sensei that got it that you didn't care enough about her!" A thick cloak of red chakra formed over his skin. "As the ninja present with ranking authority, I charge you with attempted murder of three genin. Punishment is death."

Hiashi scoffed and started striking Naruto. He regretted it when Naruto caught his arm. A sickening snap came from it as Naruto balled his other fist. The cloak became a claw around it. It plunged into his stomach and tore much of the flesh there apart. The next thing he knew, he was in the forest a good many miles from there.

And Naruto stood over him, laughing evilly. _**"You really made the kit mad,"**_ Naruto said. _**"He doesn't even realize he isn't in control right now. All he cares is that you hurt. That wound in your stomach,"**_ the evil voice continued, _**"will kill you. But not in any time soon. In three days from the look of it, you will die. From blood lost, infection, dehydration, starvation, and poison."**_ He lifted his head so Hiashi could see. His eyes had turned black with the irises blood red. _**"If I could, I would eat you. But I can't even reach the kit from inside him. So this will have to do instead. Oh yeah, I can't have you making it back to the village to warn them." **_The Kyuubi reached out, grabbed Hiashi's legs, lifted him in the air, and broke them. _**"Too bad this isn't really likely to happen again. The kit has a good grasp on his emotions."**_

Naruto was gone from his sight, and his screams.

—oo000oo—

Naruto stood up from the floor, unsure what just happened. But he knew that Hiashi was hurt. When he didn't see the traitor, he went over to Neji and Hinata. Grabbing both and putting them on his shoulder, he ran to the hospital. "I need help! Hyuuga Hinata was almost straggled to death by her father! And Hyuuga Neji just collapsed, clutching his head in pain!"

The closest nurse took a look at them and called over as many as she could. "Emergency! One female, age thirteen, not breathing, collapsed airway! The other is a Hyuuga branch member with an over used Curse Seal, life signs failing!" They were carried off and Naruto started following them. "No! You will be no help in this! Go tell the ANBU what has happened!"

Naruto stopped, feeling more useless than he ever have. He should have gotten there sooner. He would find Hiashi, where ever he ran, and tear him apart. He turned and ran, he hands going through the needed hand signs. A light shot into the air and Ox was there thirty seconds later.

"Naruto," he said in a voice that sounded carefully thought out. "What is it?"

"Hyuuga Hiashi has just tried to kill his daughter, Hyuuga Neji, and myself. Now he is missing."

Ox nodded. "I will report this to the Hokage and to your sensei. Stay here and send the flare again if their conditions worsen." He turned and was gone.

Naruto did not feel comforted by this. His friend and teammate was dying and so was that nice guy that helped him. And all because he didn't want to leave right then. Hiashi would pay.

—oo000oo—

He sat in the waiting room. "...Where are the eyes that looked so mild? Hurroo, hurroo. Where are the eyes that looked so mild? Hurroo, hurroo. Where are the eyes that looked so mild when my heart you first beguiled? Why did ye leave me and the child? Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

"Where are the legs that use to run? Hurroo, hurroo. Where are your legs that use to run? Hurroo, hurroo. Where are your legs that use to run when first you went to carry a gun? Now I fear your dancing days are done. Johnny, I hardly knew ye.

"Where are your arms that held me tight? Hurroo, hurroo. Where are your arms that held me tight? Hurroo, hurroo. Where are your arms that held me tight when first you went to join the fight? And we'll never no more share the night. Johnny I hardly knew ye."

"Their rolling out the drums again. Hurroo, hurroo. Their rolling out the drums again. Hurroo, hurroo..." One of the lights turned off and Naruto jumped up.

"Is she?"

The doctor shook his head. "It was the boy. He is fine now. His condition has stabilized. Have you told his team yet?"

"No, I was afraid for my teammate." He made two Kage Bunshin and one ran to tell them. The other went to tell Anko and Sasuke. Not thirty seconds after he found them, two clouds of kicked up dust stopped in the room, dragging along with them a dazed Tenten.

"Where is he!?"

"He is in the operating room. They are prepping him to be moved to another room," Naruto told them, his head hung low.

"Who are you," Lee asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto." He lifted his head to look at them. "It was my clone that told you."

Gai nodded. "Thank you. What happened?"

"Hyuuga Hiashi betrayed his daughter and tried to kill her. We, Neji and I, stopped him. When Neji wanted to leave though, I wanted to make him pay. And now, Neji is the one that is hurt and Hiashi is missing."

"So it is your fault he is here," Tenten yelled.

"Tenten, enough," Lee said. "Can't you see how much this is hurting him?"

"But..."

"Lee is right," Gai said. "The person at blame here is not young Naruto here. It is the missing Hiashi."

Naruto hung his head again. Not long later, Neji was taken to his room and his team followed him. Naruto continued to wait, even after his team showed up, unmoving and not speaking. If felt as if the song inside him depended on Hinata surviving. Because it felt like he would never sing again if she died.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and saw how he was beating himself over Hinata. It was obvious he cared for her deeply. He sighed, the battle was only just joined and already he had lost. Hinata liked him and he liked Hinata.

Naruto wasn't the only one blaming himself. Anko knew why it happened. Because she took this to the Hokage with Tiger. That woman was a person of strong emotions. '...Alright, so am I,' she admitted. But Tiger wouldn't hesitate in confronting the person that has wronged someone. And if Anko had only kept it between herself and the Hokage, this wouldn't have happened.

They didn't even notice the light turned off and the doctor came out. "...Are you her sensei?"

"Yes." Naruto jumped up when he heard the doctor.

The woman continued. "We had to do emergency re constructive surgery to restore her air way. For the time being, she will have to stay here in the hospital. Because we are having to keep it open until it is strong enough to do it itself. Meaning that she is unable to eat solid foods."

"But will she be alright," Naruto demanded.

"Physically, yes. She will be able to leave in two weeks at best. But mentally... I don't know. She could rebound back from this or she may fall apart and never recover. It was her father that did this, correct?"

"Yes," Naruto said. "Hyuuga Neji can confirm it."

The doctor sighed. "I have had dealings with the Hyuuga. And, sadly, this is not the first time I have treated Hinata. Only branch members come in more often than she does. And always it is the same thing. She hurt herself during training." She saw the fire in Naruto's eyes. "I hope you are the one that gets sent after him," she said to them. "A father is to protect his children, not hurt them."

The door behind them opened and a sleeping Hinata was taken out on a one of their rolling beds. "You can't see her right now. But tomorrow morning you can."

—oo000oo—

Sasuke was sitting in the chair reading when he heard her begin to shift. Looking up, he saw Hinata open her eyes and then her mouth. "Don't speak," Sasuke warned. "You won't be able to and you might hurt yourself."

She nodded. And her eyes went wide when she felt something attached to her neck touch her chin. A trembling hand came up and she found that a tube was in her neck. She looked at Sasuke, scared.

"You couldn't breath. They put that in so you could at first. Now it serves to get nutrient to your stomach. I'm told it should come out in about a week and a half." Hinata looked around, very confused. "Here," Sasuke gave her a pen and paper.

She wrote out, '_How did I get here?_'

"Naruto and Neji came to see you. When they did, they found you almost dead. Neji was the one that got you away from your father while it was Naruto that held him back." He saw an even more confused look on her face. "Let me guess, it is about Neji helping?" She nodded. "No one can explain it. Not even his teammates. He heard a song and all of a sudden, he regretted what he had done to you."

'_He's sorry?'_

"Yes. He is causing a ruckus wanting to see you and demanding to be told when you are awake." Hinata smiled. Her cousin didn't hate her anymore. But her father... Sasuke saw her go down trodden. And figured it was one of two things. Her father doing this to her. Or what happened to Naruto. "Naruto is perfectly fine. For the most part. He is mad that Hiashi got away but otherwise, is good."

Hinata smiled even wider than before. "...I'm not sure if I should be the one telling you this but it is very apparent that you like him." Hinata turned red. "And it is very apparent the he likes you as well. So why can't either of you see how the other feels?"

Hinata could have jumped for joy. But as she couldn't she did the next best thing. She hugged Sasuke with as great a hug she has ever given and gave him a kiss on the cheek in thanks.

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked in the door way and frowned a moment. Then he smiled. They really did make a nice couple. He turned around. He wasn't going to ruin the moment. He saw Hinata's nurse. "Excuse me, can you give these to Hyuuga Hinata, please?"

"Of course." She looked at them. They were flowers, lilacs and jasmine. "But you should probably give them to her yourself."

"Nah. Too shy to when she is awake." He turned and started walking to the entrance. Humming a tune. "...All for the love of a girl."

—oo000oo—

The nurse stopped by Neji's room to tell him she is awake then she went to give the flowers. "Up and lively I see," she said with a smile. She placed the flowers on the nightstand. "Your cousin will be here shortly to see you. So, any idea who your secret admirer is?"

"Oro," Sasuke asked.

"Yeah, I found these on the cart outside with this card. No name." She gave Hinata the card.

_**'Get well soon, my precious princess.'**_

Hinata didn't know anyone that called her princess. The nurse had to bite back a smile. She wasn't going to tell them. She always thought it more romantic when the person found the courage himself.

"Hinata-sama," Neji said from the door way. He had a crutch under his left arm. And a nurse behind him saying that he should be resting. "I am fine! Just leave me be a moment!" He cleared his throat. "I apologize for my actions up to this point. I know they were not your fault. And I will be sure to protect you if ever your father returns."

_'Thank you, Neji-niisan.'_

—oo000oo—

Naruto was in his room. Jii-san hasn't found Hiashi yet. He gave a sigh. He told him that team seven was suspended until Hinata could continue. If she can continue. He looked up and smiled at the banner. It was a flag. To be precise, it was the Jolly Roger wearing a Leaf headband. He couldn't help himself with this. "I am the dread pirate Uzumaki! Surrender your ale, money, and women!" He laughed to no end about that.

He decided that wouldn't be a bad life. 'Set sail lads! We have a many a places to go and only so much grog to drink it with!' 'Hoist the colors high! Show them who they are dealing with!'

His fingers played along the strings of the Fuka-hone subconsciously. "What do you think? Could I make a good pirate?" There was a deeper note than normal. "That a yes?"

Naruto stood up. It had been three days and he needed to do something. Strapping Fuka-hone to his back, he ran outside the village. There was a town just a few miles away that always appreciated a good musician. And they showed it with some coin.

—oo000oo—

"The king and his men, stole the queen from her bed. And bound her in her bones. The sea be ours, and by the powers, where we will we'll roam.

"Yo ho, all hands. Hoist the colors high! Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die!

"Some men have died and others survive. And others sail the sea. With the keys to the cage, and the Devil to pay, we lay to Filler's Green.

"Yo ho, all together. Hoist the colors high! Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die!

"The bell has been raised from its watery grave. Do you hear it's sepulchral tone? We call to all, pay heed the squall. And turn your sails to home.

"Yo ho, all together. Hoist the colors high! Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never shall we die!

"Yo ho, all together. Hoist the colors high! Heave ho, thieves and beggars, never say we die!"

Naruto bowed to the room and they began to clap. It was a simple tune but it caught a lot of people up in it. "Thank you, you are too kind."

He looked up and smiled. And his smile slipped for a moment. There was a blond hair girl not far away, smiling at the music. She was a few years older than him and she had a tan line on her forehead. She was also a ninja trying to avoid notice. Naruto ran a hand through his hair, over the same spot. He hadn't worn his long enough to get it. Maybe he should tie it around his arm.

They were in a tavern right now. One of the waitresses brought him a glass of water. "Much better. Hmm, what to play next," he asked the room. "Hmm." He started strumming the strings and tapping his foot for the drum. "I just honestly don't know. But you know...

"It's all the same. Only the names will change. Everyday, it seems we're wasted away. Another place, where the faces are so cold. I drive all night, just to get back home.

"I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, dead or alive. Wanted, dead or alive.

"Sometimes I sleep, sometimes it's not for days. The people I meet always goes their separate ways. Sometimes you tell the days by the bottle that you drink. Sometimes when you're in love, all you do is think.

"I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, dead or alive. Wanted, dead or alive.

"Oh and I ride! ...Oh! ...I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, dead or alive. Wanted, dead or alive.

"But I walk these streets with a load six string on my back! I play for keeps! 'Cause I might not make it back! I've been everywhere and still I'm standing tall! I've seen a million faces and I've rocked them all!

"I'm a cowboy, on a steel horse I ride. I'm wanted, dead or alive. Wanted, dead or alive. 'Cause I'm a cowboy! I got the night on my side! I'm wanted, dead or alive! I still drive, I still drive! Dead or alive! Dead or alive!"

Naruto took another drink. "Do we have any ninja in here? Come on now, don't be shy. I want to know what you want to hear next... Now, now, don't make me call you out! I know are there." He was looking right at the girl and she began to blush as others did as well. "So, what do you want to hear, miss nin?"

She hung her head in humility. "I'm gonna miss her."

Naruto laugh. "Oh I love her. But I love to fish. Spent all day out on this lake and hell is all I catch. But today she met me at the door, said I would have to choose. If I hit the fishing hole today, she'd be packing all her things and be gone by noon...

"Oh I'm gonna miss her! But I'll move on. Right now, I'm on this lake shore and I'm... sitting in the sun. I'm sure it'll hit me, when I walk through that door tonight. Oh, I'm gonna miss her. Oh looky there, I got a bite!"

—oo000oo—

That was his last song of the evening. "So..." he said as he sat down next to her. "What are you doing here without your headband on?"

"...Trying to relax," she told him.

"I can understand that," Naruto replied. "By the way, I only noticed because of the tan line you have. Nothing you did wrong."

She dropped her head. "To be noticed by a gleeman..."

"Not quite a traveling musician yet. Things aren't that bad at home." He thanked the bartender for the bowl of soup. "I'm Naruto."

"..."

"Again, understandable. With our profession, it isn't always best to tell people our names."

"Our profession?"

Naruto reached into his pocket, pulled out his headband, and tied it around his arm. "I came to relax as well."

She laughed a little. "So you are a Leaf, eh?"

"...Aren't you?"

She smiled ruefully. "No." She took her headband and replaced it. Instead of the Leaf symbol, it was Cloud. "Please don't tell anyone you saw me. If my village finds me, they will kill me...or worst, make me go back."

Naruto blinked in surprise at that one. "Not quite the fate worst than death I was expecting..." He thought about all the ice cold stares he received and nodded. "But again, I can understand."

"I doubt it."

"I can," Naruto assured her. "Have you ever seen the very heart of winter? I see it every day in the eyes of those that do not know me beyond what was done to me."

"But why? You're a nice guy. Nothing seems odd about you to me."

"It...is personal. ...You know, I have never told anyone this but I have more than one dream. Everyone in Konoha knows I want to be Hokage. But no one knows I also want to be a pirate."

She laughed. "You're joking!"

"No, I'm serious. My godfather used to tell me stories about the Pirate Ocean. From the up and coming Monkey D. Luffy to the King of the Pirates, Gold Rogers and One Piece! They all followed their dreams and were free... That is what a ship really is, freedom. To chase that urge to set sail with nothing but your heart wanting to. Forever with nothing but your sword and friends at your side. No hatred, no worries...no paperwork."

"Ah, the bane of a Kage's life," the girl said. "That does sound desirable... Tell you what. If ever you become a pirate, I'll join the same crew."

"No, not just a pirate, Captain," he said with a grin.

"Aye aye, captain," she said with mock respect. "I am Nii Yugito."

"Uzumaki Naruto," he told her. The door opened and a group of four came in wearing hoods. Out of habit, Naruto clicked his tongue. And he 'saw' what they looked like. He spun around, took her headband off, and pulled her head in close. "Hunter nins," he warned before kissing her to cover her face.

Yugito had her eyes opened wide for a moment before she relaxed into it and closed her eyes. Naruto shifted his shoulders so that the tail of Fuka-hone covered their faces. When they passed them, Naruto pulled back and smiled. "Let's go, hime." She nodded dumbly.

As soon as the door closed behind them, they started running into the forest. "Damn," Naruto said. "You weren't joking!"

"Of course not," Yugito replied. "And I am going to hurt you for that!"

He laughed. She was definitely different than Hinata. "Well, whatever keeps your freedom!"

—oo000oo—

"Hyuuga Hiashi," a voice cut through the pain and delirium. His eyesight returned and he saw a man with silver hair and demon looking cobalt eyes. He wore a black coat and silver shoulder pads. "Do you fear death? Do you wish to die?"

"...No."

"Do you want revenge on the one that did this to you?"

"Yes!"

"Here." The man pulled a fruit from his coat. It was a sickly yellow with swirls on it. "This is a Devil fruit, the Flare Flare fruit. For a price, this will help you. It will rebuild you, make you faster and stronger. Your body will be remade in a fire none has ever seen. And in the end, those flames will give you the strength to kill what has done this to you."

Hiashi reached a shaking hand up to it. He grabbed the fruit and took a bite out of it. "It's sweet." The pain came next.

—oo000oo—

Naruto and Yugito stopped when they came to a clearing. "Wait," Naruto called. This reminded him of the forest of death. This same feeling was always in the air before something attacked something else.

"Demon," a voice came. Both turned on a man with messed up hair and bloody robes. "I have finally found you."

"What do you want with me," they both demanded. "He was talking to me," the said to each other.

"The boy is right, I meant him. After all, you are only guilty of associating with a demon, not being one yourself." He stepped into the light, revealing the insane face of Hiashi.

"Shut up!"

"Now what are you doing out here, demon? Come to make sure the job you did to me was enough?"

"You ran," Naruto yelled.

"No, no, no, Kyuubi. You may not remember it but you took me to this forest and left me to die. And now, I shall return the favor!" Fire enveloped him as he began laughing. "The power of this curse is amazing! I don't care what the price is!"

"...He ate a Devil Fruit," Naruto whispered.

"Die, Demon!" A fist of fire shot from the arm he threw forward.

"Oto Oto Back Blast!" Naruto yelled and the fire seemed to hit it and be stalled. But it pushed through it. "Oto?" The fire hit Naruto.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: now that is an evil cliff hanger. Those of you that recognize the description of the man with the fruit, he is a cookie. And to those that realized something was up with the Flare Flare fruit, here is some ice cream! Yes, not only was the Flare Flare Fruit already eaten, this one was a pale yellow instead of bright, and it tasted sweet instead of bitter. What can this mean!?

I know that isn't exactly much of a Sasuhina but whatever. So, have you been catching the hints about pirates after the since the first chapter?

Now, this chapter featured 'All for the love of a girl' by Johnny Horton. 'Hoist the Colors' from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' by Bon Jovi. 'I'm gonna miss her' by Brad Paisley. Well, I really don't think even this would make it anymore clear the this is definitely going to be a NarutoXYugito.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto now understood why people say that burning to death was the worst way to die. The heat made his exposed skin blister and his lungs were burning up. But, oddly enough, he didn't feel the bite of the flames themselves. "Oto," Naruto asked again. Amazed that he even could.

He opened his eyes and found a very different sight than he expected. Black flames had surrounded Yugito and she was holding Naruto. The black flames were devouring the Devil Flames. "Don't move," Yugito warned. He closed his eyes again as they were starting to burn as well.

—oo000oo—

Hiashi stopped the fires, certain the demon was nothing but bones and ask. But instead, he saw black flames in his place. They disappeared, revealing the girl holding Naruto. "How are you alive!?"

"Because I am the prison of the Nibi no Nekomata, the Two Tailed Hell Cat. And I will not let you hurt my first friend."

Hiashi looked at them and laughed. "Two! Two of them right here! The Two Tailed Cat and the Nine Tailed Fox right here in their human bodies! Oh the ironies!"

"The Nine Tails," Yugito asked, looking at Naruto.

He nodded stoically. "He attacked the village hidden in the leaves thirteen years ago... Or I did. And the Fourth Hokage sealed him, or me, inside this body."

"Why are you talking like that?"

"Because he doesn't know," Hiashi said, still laughing. "He could be the Kyuubi and just lost his memory or he could be the prison. Allow me to clear that up for you. The Fourth was a master at seals. There was nothing he could not completely seal, as he showed. But you are wondering if living creatures are able to. Yes. But he made the seal so the Kyuubi's chakra could flow into your body at times of extreme stress. I pushed you too far and he was able to take over while your anger took its course. Satisfied?"

"Yes..." Naruto said wearily.

"Now where was I..." He was clearly insane. "Ah yes. I had just said 'Die demon'. Ahem... Now die!" Fire consumed his body but didn't burn him. He began throwing it everywhere, out of control.

Naruto hid behind a boulder. "You ate a Devil Fruit, didn't you!?"

"Yes! The Flare Flare Fruit!"

"What do you know about them," Yugito asked.

"Besides his obvious weakness to water, he has another," Naruto told her. "His body sinks right through water."

"We could use that...if there was a river or lake near here." Both of them dropped their heads. "Looks like we have to attack his mind."

"I can attack using sounds," Naruto told her. "If I can get close I can also use Fuka-hone as a bladed weapon."

"So that has a use beyond music," Yugito said. She had been looking at it hungrily. She noticed Naruto's disapproving stare. "Hey, I am part cat," she defended herself with.

Another blast of fire brought them to the present. Both of them jumped away as the rock began to melt. Yugito still remembered the incident from ten years ago. She was the only one that realized what happened thanks to Nekomata. She had spoken with the ghost of the Hyuuga. She did a Henge no Jutsu and walked out from behind the tree. "Brother..."

Hiashi turned on him and froze. "Hizashi..."

"Brother, I never blamed you. Tell me, what has become of my son, Neji?"

"No... No... I, I killed him. And my own daughter... Oh god what have I done!?" Hiashi looked to the ground and back up to his brother. Then he narrowed his eyes. "DIE! My brother is dead! And yet you have neither lost the Byakugan nor do you have the Seal!" His ninja instincts said duck so he did. Naruto over him, swinging his guitar like an ax. When it cut down a tree with it, he wasn't surprised that he used it as a weapon.

"Oto Oto Wail!" Naruto screamed and Hiashi clutched his head in pain. His eardrums popped and he fell to the ground. But he wasn't so easily defeated. He pulled the fire in around him and sent it out in a wave.

"What is wrong boy!? Can't beat me with your pitiful blood line!?" He got up ans started laughing. But then he stopped. "What is...!? I, I can't control it!" The fire was now jumping around, destroying anything it touched. Which now included Hiashi. "AH! HELP ME!" His arm was now just bones falling to the ground. The two watched in horror as his body was eaten. And worst, that he didn't stop screaming until there was nothing left.

Naruto looked on for a moment before he ran from sight. The sound of him retching reached Yugito's ears. "Is that normal!?"

"No," Yugito told him. "That was far from normal." She waited and after a few minutes, his ghost appeared. "What happened to you, Hiashi?"

"I...ate a fruit offered to me by a man with silver hair. It had a sweet taste and was sickly yellow. It was also covered in swirls." He drew it in the ash of his body and swallowed. "How did you know about Hizashi?"

"I spoke to him, like I am speaking to you. Go, your brother awaits you."

She went over to Naruto. "I was able to gleam a little from his remains. He ate a fruit that was sickly yellow, had a sweet taste, and covered in swirls."

"That sounds a little like a Devil Fruit. But the abilities has never gone haywire like that before... Uncle told me the Flare Flare fruit has already been eaten."

"So. A fruit is grown every season."

"Not these. This fruit is born only once every hundred years from a tree in a very distant part of the word. How did he even get it?"

Yugito caught on. "A fake then. Someone is growing them."

"Man... That can really mess up the world. Imagine others like Hiashi was before the same happens to him. But in a city instead." He walked to the center of the fires and clapped his hands. There was an air splitting crack. Yugito found, for a heart beat, there was no air to breath. She looked around and all the fires had died.

"Not bad."

"Basic chemistry. To have a fire, you need three components. Heat, fuel, and air." He turned to her and smiled. "I'm not the student and nephew of Jiriaya for nothing. ...Hey, how about you come to Konoha. I'm sure Jii-san will make you a ninja there and offer you amnesty."

"Well, I..."

"There you are," Anko yelled as she came between them. "Do you have any idea how much you have been making Hinata cry!?"

"But I..."

"No buts! Sasuke told her that you care for her as well and you don't show up to talk to her or even check up on her!?"

"But I thought she liked Sasuke... I mean, I saw her kiss him."

"Where!?"

"On the... On the cheek." He dropped his head. He had just made a fool of himself. "I thought I was doing the right thing..."

"Do you know how many people have said that in the past for doing some stupid thing or other!?" She stood back up. And took notice of Yugito for the first time. "You damn bastard! This is what you were doing!? You hurt Hinata so you could spend time with her!?"

"No, Anko-sensei, that isn't it," Naruto tried to explain.

"I don't give a shit what you say! This is completely unforgivable! To hurt Hinata just to spend some time with the first woman that would open her legs to you! I will make sure you spend the rest of your career..." Yugito tackled her to the ground; kicking, punching, and biting.

"Bitch! Like I would ever do that with him!" She gave Anko a shiner under her right eye.

"Oh!? Doesn't look that way to me with how your clothes are messed up!" She kneed Yugito in the stomach.

"Because we were just attacked," Yugito yelled as she began to pulled her hair.

"Uh ladies," Naruto said, "please stop."

"By who," Anko screamed as she kicked Yugito in the face.

"Ladies," Naruto said, louder and sterner.

"By some insane ninja by the name of Hiashi!"

"Oto Oto Bliss!" The two just dropped to the ground, with stupid grins on there faces. This was another attack made with the help of the scroll. At ultra low frequencies, sound can affect the mind. Not mind control. Rather it forces the brain to make the chemical that causes certain emotions. Right now, he knew anger, fear, and bliss/pleasure.

Yugito was purring like she did whenever someone petted her ears. And Anko was moaning like when someone petted her as well. Just in a different spot. "Oh Iruka-kun," she moaned out.

"...Iruka and Anko," Naruto asked the air in disbelief. He shook his head. "Alright you two, no more fighting, understand?" He kept it going. They distantly nodded. "Now, Anko-chan, I only just met Yugito-chan. I helped her get away from some Cloud hunter nins. She has nothing to do with me not visiting Hinata. I honestly thought she had liked Sasuke when I saw them kiss."

"Okay," Anko replied.

"Now, Yugito-chan. Don't pick a fight with my sensei. You are my friend but she is not only my friend as well, she is my teammate. I would do anything to help her. So please don't make me choose between you two."

"Alright, Naru-kun, I won't."

Naruto nodded and let it drop. The effects was gone instantly. They opened their eyes and stood up. And Anko took a good look at both of them. Naruto had bad burns on his hands and the right side of his face. Yugito didn't but she was no better off. "You really wear attacked, weren't you?"

"His remains are over there. And we have a problem I need to tell uncle and Jii-san."

—oo000oo—

"Are you sure," Sarutobi asked.

"Completely, no. But he said the name," Naruto replied. "He knew a little of what he was talking about."

"Then we will need to find more information," Jiriaya said.

"No, Jiriaya, not you. At least not alone. Yugito, I find myself short a genin in one of my teams at the moment."

"Huh," asked both Anko and Yugito.

"Naruto's teammate is in the hospital for another week and a half. I want you to go with Jiriaya and get a ship ready to sail east on the West Blue Ocean to the Grand Line."

"I refuse," Anko said. "Hinata is just injured for the _moment_! You cannot possible replace her so soon!"

"I am not," Sarutobi said. "Anko, your team is going with Jiriaya across the ocean, an A ranked mission for the time needed for it. This mission will take a long time. I am sending her there so that she can get use to how Konoha is run a little without having to give up missions."

"And also you can keep me here and get me out of your hair at the same time," Yugito said. "I know that things are thin with Kumo."

"That too," Sarutobi admitted. "Jiriaya, I am telling you this once. She is far too young for you. Touch her in any inappropriate way and she has my full support in castrating you."

Jiriaya and Naruto cringed. "I agree with you on the age. She is more Naruto's type anyway."

"HEY," both of them yelled.

"Come on, we need to get to the closest port," Jiriaya said as he left the room.

Yugito took the headband offered to her by the Hokage, put it on, and ran from the room. "See ya soon, Naruto-kun."

"Now," Anko said, turning on Naruto. "You need to go apologize to someone."

Naruto nodded before jumping out the window.

—oo000oo—

Naruto was about to enter Hinata's room when someone grabbed him by the collar, pulled him back into the hall, and slammed him into the wall. "Where the hell have you been," Sasuke demanded.

"I made a mistake and I was also getting something."

"A mistake!?"

"I saw her kiss you so I thought the two of you needed space alone." Sasuke groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. "I also got something. You take it. I shouldn't be the one to give it to her, at least right now." In his hand was a scorched headband. "It was her father's."

Sasuke swallowed and took it with a nod. "Now is not a good time for this. I'll give it to Neji. Now get in there and make things better between the two of you. And you better beg her forgiveness."

Naruto nodded as his friend walked away. Taking a deep breath he walked in. "Hinata-chan?"

She turned from her side to look at the door. She then sat up. "Naru..." She stopped as pain hit her throat. She grabbed her notepad and hastily wrote down, '_Naruto-kun!?'_

"I take it you missed me... I'm sorry Hinata-chan. I...saw you kiss Sasuke and thought..."

Hinata looked humiliated. She ducked under her blankets. 'Oh no! Now he hates me!'

"Please come out, Hinata-chan. Don't make me apologize to a blanket." Naruto said, and a half hearted joke. "...I will come in there." The thought of that made Hinata's face burn. She slowly lowered the edge until her eyes showed. "That all I am going to get?" She nodded. Naruto sighed, "That will do, I guess. Hinata, I'm sorry. I should have just come in and talked to you. Can you ever forgive me?" He made his eyes sparkle like when he first tasted ramen, clasped his hands in front of his mouth, and got on his knees. "Please, please, please, please forgive me!"

Hinata nodded. But she began to write something under her blanket. Naruto chuckled when he saw she was so nervous, even her normally perfect handwriting had stutters in it. _'O Only if y you tell me h how you r really feel.'_

Naruto scratched his chin. "How to sum it up in a word?" He snapped his fingers, pulled Hinata's blanket down to her chin, and kissed her on the lips. Hinata went wide eyed. Her heart monitor sky rocketed then went calm again, indicating she just fainted again. "That is how I feel about you Hinata-chan," Naruto said when she woke up moments later. "You hold a big piece of my heart. Maybe not the only piece but the biggest. The Hokage has given us our next mission. There is someone growing some very dangerous fruits somewhere on the ocean. We are to go find the person and stop them."

_'But what about my father?'_

"...That has been decided, Hinata-chan. I am to stay with you for now and make sure he doesn't come back for you. Then we set sail for the Grand Line."

_'But I thought that the Grand Line was just a story.'_

"It isn't. You see, my Bloodline Ability is from there... I forgot! I got a new guitar. Though it is a little late to tell you. You have obviously seen it."

Hinata nodded. _'Naruto-kun, do you forgive me for that happening?'_

Naruto sighed again. "You asked me that before, Hinata-chan. I never blamed you for it in the first place so there is nothing to forgive. Besides, Fuka-hone is a great guitar. In a way I am very lucky that it did break. Listen."

He took Fuka-hone off his back and started playing her the unaltered voice. The truth is, he was kind of greedy of it. So when he played it at the tavern, he kept it from being heartbreaking. Not this time.

"I'm feeling like Tonto, riding the pinto, trying to chase the lone ranger down. I'm a little unraveled, but I'm still in the saddle, crying your name out to the clouds.

"Why don't you need me back at the tepee? We'll lay down by the camp fire. And there in the dark night, we'll smoke the peace pipe. Forget about who's wrong or right.

"It was a big show down! Hey yeah, we stood our ground! Shout out the lights, it got a little crazy! Don't want to see us go, the way of the buffalo! Gonna have another wild west show!

"Only forgiveness can finally end this. Their won't be a witness if we both fall. There's never a hero in a battle of egos. There's never a winner of the quick draw.

"It was a big show down! Hey yeah, we stood our ground! Shout out the lights, it got a little crazy! Don't want to see us go, the way of the buffalo! Gonna have another wild west show!

"It's like a ghost town without you around. Why can't we just forget, ride off in the sunset...

"It was a big show down. Hey yeah, we stood our ground. Shout out the lights, it got a little crazy. Don't want to see us go, the way of the buffalo. Gonna have another wild west show.

"I'm feeling like Tonto, riding the pinto, trying to chase the lone ranger down. I'm a little unraveled, but I'm still in the saddle, crying your name out to the clouds."

Naruto stopped and looked up. The reaction was much like he expected. Hinata was almost crying from the voice of Fuka-hone. No doubt she would have been if not for the song itself. It was just too fast pace to cry for. "So, what do you think of Fuka-hone? She has a beautiful voice, no?"

_'She does. I can't put it in words.'_

Naruto was about to say something but a nurse cleared her throat at the door. "I hate to break this up but you are exciting too many of our patients. I have to ask you to leave."

"Okay. I apologize ma'am." With a grin, he turned back to Hinata. "I will see you tomorrow." He leaned down, kissed her, and ran away with the nurse yelling at him about exciting patients again.

—oo000oo—

Two weeks later

—oo000oo—

"Team seven, I know this is rushing it but there isn't much choice," Sarutobi said. "As you already know, you leave the Land of Fire soon. To be precise, in a month and a half, Jiriaya and Yugito will have the passage and supplies needed ready. So I am going to have to get you ready for what is ahead in that amount of time."

Iruka cleared his throat. "What the Hokage means is that by passing Anko's test, you have already proven yourselves to work together in life threatening situations. So there is no need of Rank D missions. Although I do not approve of this decision, I cannot deny he is right either. So you are being jumped are to C ranked missions."

Naruto noticed he kept casting glances at Anko. He couldn't take it anymore. "FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! Are you two an item or not!?" Most of them just looked at him, shocked. Iruka looked away, scratching the right end of his scar, and blushing.

Anko had no such inhibitions. "Hell yeah. He actually does this thing with his..."

"More information than we need," all three genin yelled. Well, Naruto and Sasuke yelled, Hinata really just squeaked.

Sarutobi coughed. "But to the issue at hand. Your next mission is an escort mission. The client is Tazuna and you are to take him to his home and protect him while there until his bridge has been completed. Hinata, I need to know this right now, can you do it?"

Hinata rubbed her neck. She nodded that she could. "Alright, I will introduce you then." He nodded to Iruka and he left the room. He came back in a moment later. "These are the ninja that will be protecting me," an old man said when he came in. "The blond with the dumb look on his face doesn't even look like a ninja. He looks like a fricken gleeman."

Naruto smiled and reached a hand up to grab the tail of Fuka-hone. They thought it odd that Naruto wanted to play a song now as he was just insulted for it. But Naruto had no intention of that. He swung it like an ax, right for his neck.

He pulled short and passed it and the bottle of saki he was about to put to his lips. Without a word, he slipped Fuka-hone back on his back...as the bottom of the bottle fell to the floor, cut smooth.

"...HAHAHA! Alright, so you do know what you are doing. My name is Tazuna, master bridge builder of the Wave country. I expect you to do that to anyone that tries to attack me or steal my supplies."

"Respect for respect," Naruto said with a nod. "Let's go."

—oo000oo—

"Hokage, I have to ask. Why are you sending them on the mission to stop these fake 'Devil Fruit'?"

"...I'm not surprised you don't know," Sarutobi said. "Naruto is deeply connected to this and, believe it or not, knows the most on how to stop them. Him and Jiriaya. What more..." he smiled. "Naruto may have always dreamed to be Hokage. But I think he has another dream. I don't know because he hasn't told me. If all the stories he has been told by Jiriaya, the songs he sings, and the flag in his room are any sign, I think he wants to go on an ocean adventure. Or maybe even be a pirate himself."

"But...we're ninja."

"You're right, such a dream is only a fantasy to us. But this will let Naruto live out that fantasy."

Iruka frowned. "That is showing favoritism."

"What good does me being Hokage if I can't help my adopted grandson achieve a dream he has?"

—oo000oo—

"Anko-sensei," Hinata asked as they were walking. "Is this really a good idea?"

"You said you were ready, Hinata. And these are just bandits and thieves we are expecting. Don't worry." But Hinata still did. She jumped at every sound and activated her Byakugan constantly. Until eventually she did see something.

"Anko-sensei... There are two ninja ahead of us in hiding."

She frowned. "How far?"

"Quarter of a mile."

"Stop," Anko called to the others. "There are two hidden ninja ahead. Now, they might just be passing through but I doubt it. I think they are waiting to ambush someone. Now let us find out if they are after us." She looked at Naruto and he nodded.

"Underneath the underneath," Naruto said before he made five clones. Four of them transformed into one of the others. They then started walking. The real Naruto stood there waiting. "...my clones are dead. They took you out first, Anko-chan. Followed by me, Hinata, and finally Sasuke. They were in a hurry and didn't noticed there were no bodies. And... They just killed Tazuna. They were after him, not us. I'm going to guess that they now realized they were just clones."

"Prepare yourself for attack," Anko yelled as the two started running at them.

Hinata took a position of guarding Tazuna. While Naruto drew the Fuka-hone and Sasuke a kunai. Anko just smiled. "Let the killing time begin."

At ten yards away, Naruto started playing the Fuka-hone. The larger of the two tripped. "Snakes! They're under my skin! Get them out of me! GET THEM OUT OF ME!" His claw dug into his arm as he tried to reach them. Naruto wondered for a moment if that might have been too much.

The other ran at Sasuke. When he swung his claw, Sasuke dropped under it, pressed the claw against his opposite shoulder, drove his kunai through the gauntlet into the shoulder, and flipped him behind him. Right at a waiting Hinata. 'Come on,' Sasuke said in a mantra, 'stop him!'

Hinata reacted. Her palms hit him in the back, stealing his momentum and dropping him to the ground. She stood in the Juuken stance for a moment before she eeped and jumped back away from the downed ninja.

Anko looked up from the choke hold she used on the one still under the genjutsu. "Nice work Hinata. See, a good idea after all." The man stopped trying to get the snakes after three seconds of the blood being cut off to his head. She dropped him and looked at Naruto. "Why snakes?"

He pointed to a tree and there was a corral snake sunning on a branch. "I saw that and just decided snakes."

She grinned. "Now why didn't I see that? Come here, little guy." And the snake did. She gave it a small kiss before it wrapped around her neck. "Now, I saw poison on this ones claws. Did anyone get hurt?"

"No," they replied. They hastily tied them to a tree and called for a team to pick them up. Then as one they all looked to Tazuna.

"...Well, let's continue on," Anko said. "Tazuna, talk as we walk."

"You sound as if you are still going though with the mission." He eyed the snake wearily. Because it was eying him.

"Are we heading back to Konoha," she asked.

"No, and I have to wonder why."

"Whatever is ahead of us, these three can handle it. Other jonin would probably head back...but I'm far from other jonin. When you get a chance, ask these three about the test I put them through to see if they could cut it as ninja. Now, give me the details or we will head back. It is one thing to keep going, another not having an idea what we are against."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: Time to decide. Should Zabuza and/or Haku survive?

What did you think of the genjutsu Naruto used. That would mess anyone up, wouldn't it? To 'feel' snakes under you skin. My dad told me about a guy he saw on angel dust once. He was pulling the bricks out of a wall of a building to get the spiders crawling behind them.

As for Tazuna eying the corral snake. For those that do not know, a corral snake is a small snake about twenty to thirty inches long as an adult. It is a very pretty, brightly colored snake. Yup, which means it is very poisonous. In fact, it is more poisonous than the rattle snake I believe. I can't find an actual scale chart or numerial measurement to compare them with. Though it isn't aggressive, if handled, it will bite. Now, this isn't to be confused with the Scarlet King snake, a copy snake with no venom whatsoever.

I have decided, so it be written so it be the story. I just don't have it in me to write this a SasukeXHinata, NarutoXYugito. I can't seem to think of a way to end it with Naruto and Hinata. So why bother. I had my little Sasuhina moment so I'm happy. This is what I have decided. HinataXNarutoXYugito. And Sasuke will get... Well, I'll leave that a surprise. Except that it isn't Sakura.


	8. Chapter 8

The mist was thick, so think not even Naruto's sound could travel far in it. It gave him a feeling of helplessness that he hasn't had since the last time he almost drowned. This was not his area to fight in. Distantly, he thought about all Tazuna told them. That it was Gatou that wanted him dead, of the Gatou trading company. That he has set his sights to claim the Land of Waves. And that he had more than likely hired a good many nuke nin to deal with him and them. Anko simply replied with "Sounds fun."

He couldn't help but frowning at the fog. It deadened both natural sounds and his Oto Oto sounds. He already tested it with the help of Hinata and Sasuke. His Oto Oto bliss, fear, and anger didn't reach anyone more than ten feet away. The same as his genjutsus. His Oto Oto Wail was his strongest sound based attack and it got little more than twenty feet instead of as far as people can hear it. So he has effectively been reduced to a midrange, melee combat. He couldn't even use his echolocation here.

Hinata was using her Byakugan constantly. "...There is a m, man ahead of us with a r, really big sword," she warned them.

Anko grew suspicious. "What does it look like?"

"Ano... From t, tip to pommel, it is over s, seven feet long. The blade itself is an i, inch and a half th, think and about a f, foot and a quarter wide. P, Part of the b, bladed edge along the s, straight is curved inward, almost in a per, perfect circle. And there is a circular h, hole in the blade c, close to the end."

"The Zanbatou. Which means that is Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist... Well, we have two choices. Go around _if _there is another way to his house. Or fight a Jonin. Does he have anyone with him?"

"J, Just a r, rabbit...wait, there is s, someone hiding in the trees f, farther away. He is w, wearing a hunter nin mask. But he is w, watching the road, not Z, Zabuza."

"An assistant," Anko mused. 'Really, every team should have a Hyuuga. Two fights now she kept us from being surprised by.'

"Strong," Sasuke asked.

"Very," Anko told him.

"Let's do it," Naruto said.

Anko grinned, 'Yeah, I really like these brats.' "I will fight him, you three protect Tazuna first and foremost. Fight only if he attacks you and I can't intercept or I am unable to. But make sure not to throw your lives away. After all, even limbs are replaceable for us, our lives aren't."

—oo000oo—

Hinata took a soldier pill to replace all the chakra being used here. "N,Naruto-kun...are you n,nervous?"

"...I'm fine, Hinata-chan. Just rearing to go!" But he didn't sound it. He sounded like he was one step from falling into something that is too much for him.

"...Does h, he scare you th, that much," Hinata asked.

"No," he said dismissively. "After all, we fought those creatures of the Forest of Death and survived. It's something else." He looked through the trees to the left and at the water. "I...can't swim."

"Is that all," Sasuke asked with a laugh. "Just learn."

Naruto was already shaking his head no. "The problem is deeper than that. I am incapable of swimming, a drawback of my Bloodline."

"W, Why didn't you t, tell us," Hinata asked.

When Naruto hesitated, Anko answered. "Would you want to brag about such a weakness? I mean, if the Byakugan could not see a certain spot, would you tell people where that is? Or what the Sharigan could not see through if there was such a thing. We strive to eliminate weaknesses from ourselves. But you can't get rid of something that is actually a part of you."

Hinata hung her head and Sasuke looked away. Both of them were wondering if she knew or if she was just guessing.

Hinata kept watching him as they got closure. She didn't think she could stop him alone but maybe stall him long enough for one of the others to get close enough to. She pulled out some hidden kunai from her sleeves and threw them at him. He used replaced himself with the rabbit. She shifted a few seconds until she saw him again. She spun and threw a shuriken at him. And saw him throw his sword at them. "Get down!"

They dropped to the ground and the Zanbatou embedded itself in a tree instead of them. Then Zabuza appeared on it. "The old man...give him to me."

"Ah, since you put it that way," Anko said. "...You can kiss my tight ass!"

Naruto groaned. "Talk sex later, Anko-chan."

"Anko," Zabuza asked. "As in Snake Mistress Anko? I've heard horror stories about you."

"In or out of the bedroom," she wondered.

"Both," Zabuza said with a shrug. "So, nothing I can say to get you to just give me the old man?"

"Nope," all four ninja said.

Zabuza jumped onto the lake, putting the Zanbatou on his back as he did. "Kirigakure no Jutsu." The mist thickened until they could only see each other. Killer intent flooded the area. Nothing dared move...

"I choose rock." "I choose paper." "I ch, choose p, paper."

Sasuke groaned, "Man, I'm last. It'll probably be over by then."

Naruto held up Vs and turned to Hinata. "And now to see who goes first."

"Ano..."

"I...choose...scissors!"

"I choose r, rock," Hinata said.

"NO!"

Anko could barely keep from laughing. She could feel Zabuza was infuriated at being disregarded. "RAGH!" He came charging at them, finesse completely forgotten. Hinata stepped in the way of him, nervous but her hands still flying. Zabuza tripped, his legs not responding for a second. She hit him over the heart and blood soaked his bandages... Before falling apart into water.

"He h, has three more w, water clones c, coming at us, Anko-sensei."

"Naruto-kun, if you would please. I need a hint." He nodded and started to hum. Anko closed her eyes and... "There!" She shot her arms out and snake extended from them. Water was felt at the ends. She did it again at different angles. One turned into water, the other was bitten and the snakes tasted blood.

Zabuza pulled them out of his flesh. "How the hell did you find me?"

"You maybe a master of silent killing, Zabuza. But when one of your opponents and amplify or negate sounds, what good is that?" Naruto gave Zabuza a "yosh" that was barely a mumble but was heard all the way across the lake. He snapped his fingers at that he didn't just think of doing that before. He clicked his tongue and smiled. He had it back.

"Not to mention that Hinata-chan here can see chakra paths...which _your_ clones lack," Naruto said, throwing an arm around her shoulders. She predictably turned red and Naruto whispered, "Now is not the time to faint."

"Ano... Sorry."

Zabuza scowled at them, grabbed the last snake behind the head, pulled, and threw Anko out onto the water. "Suiro no Jutsu!" A water prison formed around Anko. "I will take care of you after I deal with the super brats over there." He made four more clones.

"Underestimate him, Anko-chan," Naruto called from shore.

"Shut up, brat!"

"You three honestly think you are ninja," the clone out in front said. "When I was your age, my hands were already soaked in blood."

"Looks like I'm up. Oh Sasuke-_chan_, if you really want something to do, why don't you deal with our observer."

"Watch it, dobe! And I don't know where he is! I can't see everything around me like you two!" Zabuza and his assistant went wide eyed. They always knew he was there.

"Ano...I, I will." She turned and jumped into the trees. The sound of two people jumping from branch to branch was heard.

"Be safe, Hinata-chan," Naruto prayed as he took the Fuka-hone from his back. "And as for you... You have no idea how much blood has stained our has. Personally, I have killed two men. You don't want to know about indirectly."

"Two men," Zabuza said with a laugh. "That is rich. Bandits, no doubt."

"No, one was a chunin. I tortured him before he died, while I held him in place. The other was the Clan Head of the Hyuuga Clan. I did worst to him." He thought about getting so mad that he didn't even remember tearing his stomach apart and leaving him in the woods to die.

"Alright...maybe you aren't worthless." The clone ran forward, swinging the Zanbatou as he did. Naruto blocked it with the Fuka-hone and was pushed back three feet.

"Wow... When I read the Scroll of Forbidden Arts, it compared the types of clones. The basic clones is beaten hands down. The Earth Clone is more a defensive jutsu. Fire Clones explode when they are hit. Lighting clones deliver a powerful shock. Wind clones are just a mass of moving blades. And the Water clone. All around a well rounded clone...excepted to get that, it lost all but ten percent of the originals power." He grinned. "And right there...I didn't want to move. And that is saying something."

"You're just a know it all brat..."

Naruto shifted the Fuka-hone and pushed. The fake Zanbatou was cut in half. "You were saying?" He swung again and the clone turned into water.

"Using a guitar as an ax..." the clone behind that one said. "You're a Metallica fan, aren't you."

Naruto looked genuinely surprised. "How did you know?"

"Honestly, could it be anymore apparent," Sasuke asked. Both Anko and every single Zabuza nodded. Naruto sweat dropped.

"Doesn't matter." He pointed the edge to the clones. "Who's next?"

They didn't decide, just all of them ran at him. Naruto caught all the blades among the rib bones. "And then there was one. Oto Oto Wail!" Two of the clones fell apart but one of them jumped away, losing his blade but simply making another. While Naruto caught his breath, the clone ran back forward.

"My turn!" Sasuke stepped on Naruto's shoulder, jumped, stabbed the clone in it's shoulder, used the kunai to spin him around, and planted his feet in his back. He threw himself back, knocking the clone off balance. Sasuke hit the ground and forced the clone to keep going. Right until he was brought down on his head. Jumping back to his feet, he showed nothing but confidence. "That is how you smash a clone, Naruto-_kun_."

"THAT was might to get!"

—oo000oo—

"I don't believe it...two _kids_ beat all those clones," Zabuza said in disbelief.

Anko had not been doing nothing during this time. She had found out that with chakra, you could get something no wider than a finger through the water. And a little known fact in the ninja world. Humans are not the only creature with chakra. "Go do you thing." Nebi-chan slid from her neck and through the water. She crawled up his leg and...

"SHIT!" He grabbed her and threw her. "Damn thing!"

"Now that isn't nice," Anko said. Zabuza turned around and saw her sitting on the head of an anaconda. "Throwing away a cute little girl like that. Don't you think, Sune-ku-chan?" The snake glared balefully at Zabuza.

"Oh hell..." He jumped and avoided the lunge from it.

Anko just slid off, reached down, picked Nebi-chan back up, and put her back. "By the way, a coral snake has one of the most lethal neural toxins in the world. Of course, if you had gotten a sample of it, you could have easily made an anti-toxin." She scratched the snake on the head.

—oo000oo—

Naruto heard Hinata cry out and jumped into the trees. He saw her holding her neck. Several shenbons had pierced it. She started to lose her balance before Naruto caught her. "She will live...if you do as I tell you," the hunter nin told him.

"What do you want!?"

"Just let me go retrieve Zabuza-sama."

"...What do I do?"

"Keep pressure on the vein that goes between them at the base of the neck and carefully remove them." The hunter nin was gone.

—oo000oo—

Zabuza couldn't even form the chakra needed to stay above the water. His leg felt like it was burning and it was spreading to the rest of his body. Even if they could use the contingency plan, it wouldn't save him. Haku appeared next to him, throwing the shenbons at the snake. "We must retreat, Zabuza-sama."

"As much as I hate to say it...you're right. Help me." Haku wrapped an arm around his body and shushined away.

Naruto jumped down, holding a limp, but awake and alive, Hinata. "What do you think the odds are that he will die from the poison?"

"None to slim," Anko said as she released the summons that brought Sune-ku there. "So...where were we headed again?"

—oo000oo—

"Damn...that lady is evil," Zabuza said as he was laid down on a bed. "What is the damage, Haku?"

"Just like she said, a neural toxin. Zabuza-sama, I thought you knew enough about snakes to remember to keep at least the head of the poisonous ones."

"It slipped my...mind." He groaned as another wave of pain hit him. "Can you cure it or not!?"

"I can... But I can only slow it for now without a sample. I am going to have to get that snake or another. A red, black, and yellow snake... You wouldn't think they would be hard to find but they spend most of their lives hidden. The ninja of the snake world."

"And she keeps one as a necklace, flippen great," Zabuza said. He grimaced as Haku took a needle and syringe out of his medical bag.

"Ah, the mighty demon of the mist afraid of needles," Haku said in a voice reserved for children. He filled it with a dark liquid and drove the needle into his leg, fast.

As he emptied it, Zabuza growled out, "If you weren't of use to me, I would kill you for that."

"If only, if only, the wood pecker sighed," Haku replied, a smile on his face. "All better now." He stood up and looked around. "Want me to get you a book? You will be here for a bit."

Zabuza couldn't help but chuckle after he left. He would never say it in front of him but Haku made things interesting and he was glad he was with him.

—oo000oo—

Naruto sighed. Of all the things he could be doing right now, this was not among the list at first. He was having a staring contest with Nebi-chan. Well, he thought he was but couldn't tell for sure. Nebi hadn't moved ever since she was placed on the windowsill. She just laid there, not even flicking her tongue and her eyes open.

He let out another sigh. _"Naruto-kun, I want you to protect Nebi-chan whenever I am not. She is now a high priority target."_ He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. His eyes were drier than her skin. "Must...not...blink..."

Nebi-chan tilted her head, showing she was in fact awake. And also, as if to say, "You are a sad, sad man."

"We are going into the twenty minute mark of the Staring Championships," Sasuke said. "The challenger, Uzumaki Naruto, is digging deep down to keep from blinking. But you can clearly see that the calm, collected Champion, Nebi-chan, has him on the ropes."

"Th, That she d, does, Sasuke-kun," Hinata said. "Ex, Experience is o, obviously at play h, here. As Naruto-kun h, has never learn p, patience."

"My life is a joke to you two, isn't it," Naruto asked, not looking up. Hinata replied no while Sasuke didn't hesitate to say yes. "...Ah-ha! I saw that! She's weakening!"

"Maybe I should find them something to do," Anko said from the table. She was having a drink with Tazuna.

"What is so important about that snake," Inari asked Naruto.

"She bit Zabuza, a ninja working for Gatou, and injected him with a poison. So they will need her or another coral snake of the same type to cure him."

"And they aren't from around here," Sasuke said.

"I win," Naruto cheered before he finally blinked. "God damn! It feels like sandpaper!"

"They will come for it," Inari said.

"No doubt," Naruto said after a moment. "But it is my job to protect her. And by protecting Nebi-chan, I protect your grandfather."

"Why bother, you will just die anyway." He walked back up to his room.

Sasuke groaned. "E-mo."

—oo000oo—

"Alright, now we are going to do some training," Anko said. When they woke up this morning, she had taken them into the forest. "What we will be doing will depend on what you can do. Hinata, show me a jutsu."

"Ano...I only know the one's needed to graduate," she said in a whisper.

Anko sighed. "That will have to change. Let me guess, some Hyuuga superiority complex that the Juuken is all you need?" Hinata nodded. "Then I want to see how many clones you can make max and hold for ten minutes. Go."

She turned to Sasuke. "...You use fire jutsus, right?"

"A few."

"But you only used taijutsu in those last fights."

"...I use too much chakra."

"Thought so, I will have you tree climbing. And Naruto-kun. I don't even need to ask about your chakra consumption. Rin told me. Water walking by the age of seven is no small feat."

"I still hesitate when it comes to it though," Naruto said off hand.

"Then that is what we will work on," Anko said, cheerily.

"Work on what?"

"Why getting you to stop hesitating of course." She wore a smile as she bit her thumb and pressed the blood to her palm. "Summoning no Jutsu." A white snake big enough to eat a man appeared under her. "Shinja-san," she said with respect. "May I ask of you a favor?"

"What might that favor be, Anko-chan," the snake said, ruffling her hair with his tail like she was a child.

"Naruto-kun here can't swim but he knows how to walk on water."

Shinja nodded. "A wise choice. But I sense there is still a problem."

"He hesitates to walk on it even though he knows he won't sink."

"Ah, a problem indeed." He focused on Naruto. "I will give you this one and one chance only to give it up."

"You can't just make a person give up a fear," Naruto told him.

"No, I can't," Shinja replied. "But I can replace it with a bigger fear." He reared back and fully opened his mouth, revealing three rows of fangs that all dripped acid. He struck at Naruto who rolled away.

"Naruto-kun, don't forget you still have Nebi-chan with you," Anko said happily. How could he forget, she's coiled up around his neck. "And she doesn't like being tossed around from jumping or jutsu use."

"You mean I have to just run away!?"

"That is exactly what she said, child," Shinja replied as he turned back to him. "I suggest you do it or you will end up like that ninja Nebi just told me she bit just yesterday."

"Damn," Naruto said before he started running

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata cried, about to run after him.

"Don't," Anko said. "Naruto-kun is in the finest hands... Well, you get my meaning. Shinja will not hurt him. Scare him half to death maybe but he will be whole when he returns to us." She looked at her and saw that Hinata had a seventeen clones. A good size number for a normal person. "I will get back to you in a moment. Now Sasuke, this is how I want you to start climbing."

—oo000oo—

"Look out! Run away," Naruto yelled as he ran over anything and everything that got in his way. He was being chased through the village right now. And with most of the building built on water, he had to do plenty of running on it. "GIANT SNAKE ON THE RAMPAGE!"

A person wearing a cloak stepped in his way. "Get out of the way! Move!" He didn't. Naruto bowled right into him and rolled a few feet. He jumped back up and started running again, not caring that the person was on his shoulder.

"What are you doing!? Stop and put me down... Don't stop! DON'T STOP!"

Shinja was having the most fun he had in centuries. He should go when summoned by Anko more often, he decided.

Naruto reached the end of the village and was back on dry land he would have followed it but Shinja was ahead of him now. He turned on a dime and ran along a brink path. "I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die! I don't wanna die!" He skidded to a halt, he was on the bridge and he just reached the end of it. "SHIT!" He jumped off and started running as soon as he landed on the water.

"What the hell did you do to make it mad!?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you!"

"What is there to believe about this whole thing!? What's one more unbelievable fact!?"

Naruto laughed. "True! I can't swim but I can walk on water. So my sensei decided that I should try to hesitate less when doing it!"

"So she sic' a snake on you!?"

"Pretty much! By the way, I am Naruto and this is Nebi-chan," he motioned to the snake around his neck.

"...You are nuts! Do you have any idea how dangerous that thing is!?"

"Any more dangerous than the one behind us!?"

"...To true! I am Hakari!"

—oo000oo—

Shinja looked around. He was back in the village again. Everyone was just looking at him. "Did you see someone with a fish on his back run by here?" They shook their heads. He frowned. "I hope he didn't run out of chakra while on the water." He slid off the planks and went looking for Naruto.

No one moved for a moment. Then the two popped out of a barrel filled to the brim with water. "Damn, I thought he would never leave," Hakari said. Naruto was just leaning his head against the rim. When they tried to get out, it fell over, dumping them on the walk way.

"That was close. Thanks for...whoa." Hakari's hood had come down. His hair was the same color and shape as Irish kelp that fell below his shoulders and was in a pony tail. His skin looked like blue scales. His teeth were sharp and his eyes were that of a shark's. At the base of his neck were five gills. He noticed Naruto was staring and reached a webbed hand up to check his hood. He had spiny fins along his forearms that were tipped black. He wore a leather shirt and pants, both aqua green and blue.

He scowled. "You idiot!" He stood up, ran to the water and dived in.

"Wait," Naruto called. He got up and ran after him. When finally he caught up to him, Hakari was walking up the shore to an old shack. "Hakari, what did I do?"

"What do you think!? Do you have any idea how hard it was to be able to go in there even while cloaked! You... You... UGH! You wretched, pathetic human! There is no word foul enough for you!"

"Hold on," Naruto said, stepping closure. Big mistake. Hakari balled his fist and punched him in the jaw. Naruto literally flew through the air and landed in the water.

"Get back up here so I can do that again! ...Naruto? Shit, I forgot!" He jumped in after him and dragged him out. "You better not need CPR because I'm not doing it!"

Naruto didn't say anything. He just reached a hand up and put his jaw back in place. "Ouch," Naruto said. "That was one hell of a right hook."

"I'm a Fishman, what did you expect," Hakari said.

"...A Fishman? Like Arlong?"

"Yeah...how did you know?"

"Call me a fan," Naruto said as he was laid on the ground. "Able to freely move from land to water. That must be cool."

"You would think so but it isn't," Hakari said as he started a fire. "I'm lost out here, all alone. So its kind of hard to get supplies when everyone thinks you're a sea-monster."

"That what you were doing in town?"

"Yeah. You're obviously not from around here if you haven't heard some story or other."

"Nope, I'm from Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves."

"I bet its nicer there." That made Naruto laugh. "Something funny about that?"

"Yeah, an inside joke. You called me human and meant it as an insult." Naruto sat up. "People at home call me demon. Counting this one and not counting my godfather and close friends, I have been called human all of three times. Looks like we are both outcast."

"...But you can still go get what you need. With my knife broken, I won't be able to hunt for a while."

"That what you were after?"

"Yeah. Here's my old one." He took out a knife and showed it to Naruto. It was rusty and time finally got to it. It had broken not a inch after the handle. "Now you have to replace it."

"Oto? Why me!? You broke it!"

"IDIOT! I can't just walk into town and go, 'Hello, don't mind my appearance, I just need a knife'! Who in their right mind would give a knife to a 'monster'!?"

Naruto didn't have a reply for that. It had actually taken him a week of constant searching to find a music store that would sell to him. "I see your point. Here," he pulled a sheathed knife from inside his boot and gave it to him. "Stainless steel, it won't rust like the old one."

Hakari pulled it out and looked at it. It was a straight, thin, double bladed knife with almost no wear on it. The first inch was serrated on both sides and six inches later it came to a point. "This most cost a lot of money. Why give it to me?"

"I don't use it. At least for anything besides cutting up an apple and such."

Hakari groaned. "I'll feel guilty if I just take it. You're staying here for lunch. And you better like sushi." He went inside and what sounded like a person getting a meal ready was heard. Naruto was worried. If that was his home, how bad was his cooking.

—oo000oo—

"Now eat," Hakari said.

Naruto was staring at it all with his mouth open. There was enough to feed six men. But then Hakari was a Fishman. And Naruto was no pushover either. Even Nebi-chan looked at it all hungrily. "I...I thought there was a food shortage!"

"Only if you rely from across the sea," Hakari replied as he started eating. He really had no manners. Which suited Naruto just fine. He had no use for them himself. He dug in, stopping only long enough to tear a piece up and give it to Nebi-chan. When finally he finished, he fell over backwards and didn't move. Hakari poked him with a stick to see if he was alive.

"Why don't you sell fish to the village?"

"Because I tried once but they chased me away. That was before I got that cloak."

"...That is it, you are coming with me!"

"Excuse me," Hakari said.

"Well, you are a great cook and obviously a decent hunter! And Tazuna's family isn't doing so well so I think you should make a trade. You help with the food, they give you a place to live!"

Hakari shook his head. "Never going to happen. They will chase me away."

"Then offer them something they can't refuse." He looked around and saw the bones of a rather large fish. "One of those!"

"You want me to hunt down a titanic tuna and just give it away?"

"They hard to hunt?"

"That was a baby and it took me an hour to pull it ashore even with my strength."

"Ah, but you didn't have Uzumaki Naruto with you," Naruto said. He picked up on of the bones and tested its strength. This was about as strong as his knife. He snapped it. "I think we can handle a little old fish."

—oo000oo—

"I think we can handle a little old fish," Hakari mocked. They both looked like they were through hell. But they had the tuna on their shoulders. "What next? Want to play pin the tail on the sea lion? Or maybe try to ride a giant seahorse. Oh, I know. Have breakfast with a eight thousand pound mako shark."

"Okay, maybe it didn't go as well as I thought. But we got the fish."

"A smaller one than we first tried for!"

"We still got it," Naruto said, not to be deterred.

"I was right, you are crazy. Why the hell am I even doing this!?"

"For a warm home and friends," Naruto said. Hakari settled for grumbling the rest of the way there. "Hey Tazuna! Tsunami! Brat! I got dinner!"

"Hi Naruto. My father is...that is a big fish," Tsunami said as she walked out the door. Tazuna came a moment later.

"How on earth did you bag that monster?"

"He meant the fish, Hakari," Naruto said behind him. "I had some help. I was able to convince a new friend of mine to trade this to you in exchange of a decent place to live." Hakari was on the tail end of the fish and hidden from sight. He simply said hello. "So, what do you think, willing to make the trade?"

"Like we'll turn down that down," Tazuna said.

But Tsunami was thinking else where. "Doesn't he have a place?"

"Just an old shack by the shore," Naruto told her.

"Then of course he can stay here. And without having to give us that fish."

"Oto?"

"Tsunami!?

"NANI!?" Hakari threw the fish down. "We fought that thing two and a half hours! Two and a half! And all you had to do was just ask!? JUST ASK!?" He had jumped and Naruto, knocking him to the ground, and shaking his head back and forth.

"If you feel that bad about it, we'll take the fish," Tazuna said. "Tsunami, we are taking the fish!"

"The boy needs the money," she insisted.

"We need the food!"

"Now what is going on here," Anko said when she walked up with two very worn out genin behind her.

Naruto leaned his head back in the dirt. "Oh, hi Anko-chan, Hinata-chan, Sasuke. Meet Hakari."

He stood up, fulling showing himself off. "Hi."

"Hello," they replied, as if they saw a Fishman everyday. They were ninja, the abnormal was normal. Tazuna and Tsunami gaped though.

"...What is he," Tazuna asked.

Only to get a fist to the head from Tsunami. "Father, have better manners! Hakari, I will try to find you a room." She went inside.

"Naruto, take that fish into the kitchen," Anko ordered. "Can he help you?"

"He is stronger than I am."

"She," Hakari corrected.

"Sorry, she is stronger... OTO!?"

"What, just because I'm a girl, I have to like pink or something? Or wear a dress?" She picked up the head and took it to the back of the house.

Naruto just stared after her. "...She's not a Fishman, she's a fishwoman."

"What a dobe," Sasuke said.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I had two favorite parts in writing this chapter. Shinja, meaning sacred snake, chasing Naruto all around the island. And right there at the end with Hakari. I was tired of them always being viewed the bad guy. The old puffer fish Fishman that took care of those two kids later on was a good guy. Plus I needed someone to compensate for Naruto being land bound. It works, no? Hakari means scales.

Now, something I forgot in the last chapter. A couple of things Anko said in it was from the story 'A Mother's Love' by the Lord of the Land of Fire. Which was just completed yesterday. A hundred and one chapters long. And worth all the time it took to read. It is an awesome story and that was my little way of congratulating him on a job well done. The quotes were 'Let the killing time begin' and 'He does this thing with his' If you haven't read it yet, you have to.

Almost decided on whether or not Zabuza lives. Haku's fate has already been seal (Laughs evilly). And I am keeping it along the manga. Sorry all you fem-Haku fans. He is a he.


	9. Chapter 9

"Why meeee!?" Naruto was once again being chased by Shinja.

"For the simple fact that you go away from me," Shinja replied. "I am one of the greatest hunters every and you escaped me! Honor demands that you either do it again or I catch you and eat you!" Actually it didn't but Naruto didn't need to know that.

"NO! No, no no, no, no!" He was running across the forest at this moment. And this the hunter nin just appeared. "Sorry, can't fight right now! I'll deal with you later!" He jumped right over him.

Haku watched him sail over him and scratched his head. He looked back the way he had come and started running himself. "Every time I see you, something bad always happen," he yelled to Naruto.

"Then run the other way," Naruto yelled.

"Not going to happen," Haku replied. "I need that snake!"

"You can have him," Naruto told him. "I hope he eats you instead of me!"

"The one around your neck!"

"Sorry, you can't have Nebi-chan! I've grown kind of attached to her!"

Shinja wondered what was going on but just shook his head and went with it. They came to the water again and predictably, Naruto tried to stay along the shore. Only to find Shinja waiting for him and driving him out onto the water. "You and that chibi wallet isn't getting away from me," Haku yelled.

"Hey, respect the lizard," Naruto yelled.

"Snakes are reptiles, not lizards," Shinja corrected.

"Whatever," both Haku and Naruto replied. Then Naruto began to laugh. "And what is so funny about our situation."

"A song I was just thinking of," Naruto told him. "Things are starting to starting to accelerate into something, never stopping, always trouble bubbling! Now I think I'm getting dizzy, too much spinning, page by page the plot is thickening, quickening! It's getting to insane! I'm trying to maintain! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

"You run around! I run around! We gonna run run run around! You run around! I run around! We all do a run run run around!"

"Alright," Haku interrupted. "No more singing! We have bigger concerns!"

"Hey, you were the one that decided to chase me," Naruto pointed out. "It is your fault you have to put up with it!" The two just made Shinja laugh aloud like he hadn't done since he shed his first skin.

—oo000oo—

"Think he gave up," Naruto asked. Both him and the ninja were in a tree looking down.

"More than likely he is catching his breath for the moment," Haku replied. He glanced at the snake that was looking him up and down. "My friend it dying, just give me the snake."

"Not a chance," Naruto said. "I can't just let you take Nebi-chan. Surrender and we will allow you to make the cure. But not otherwise," Naruto told him.

"Then it looks like we are at odds right now," Haku said.

"Sure does," Naruto replied. Both of their hands tightened around of the branch. Naruto threw a punch. Haku pushed it to the side and threw one himself. Spinning his arms, Naruto forced it off and opened him to a kick. Haku leaned back and avoided it. The kick hit the tree and broke the top half off. Though he couldn't see it under the mask, Haku was wide eyed at that display of strength. He jumped back and pulled out shenbons.

He started throwing them at Naruto who pulled the Fuka-hone off his back and blocked them with it. "Oto Oto Fear!"

Haku didn't know what came over him but he had to get away from him. He just had to! He had never been this afraid before! He tripped and a splinter of the broken tree was driven into his leg. And the fear was gone. 'A type of genjutsu,' Haku realized. He pulled the thing out of his leg and threw it at Naruto who wasn't expecting it. It took him in the shoulder and Haku jumped on him. His hand reached for the coral snake. But Nebi-chan didn't want to leave her favorite perch. She bit Haku on the right hand, injecting him with more venom than she even put in Zabuza.

"Hell," Haku said as he jumped back on reflex and fell from the tree. When he hit the ground , he tore his left sleeve off and used it to cut the circulation to his hand. "Shit, looks like me and Zabuza-sama are in the same boat now." He looked up at Naruto and he was sure the false hunter nin was glaring at him and Nebi-chan.

—oo000oo—

Haku looked up at Naruto and grinned. Before he turned and ran away. When he finally reached their hide out, he pulled off his shirt. His right arm was pressed to his side and a puppet arm was in his sleeve. "This thing is annoying but it worked." He grinned again as he took the special hand and looked at the poison collected inside it. Pure and undiluted, just what he needed. "Thank you, Nebi-chan."

As he started mixing up the anti-venom he heard the sound of the most disgusting thing in his life. "Gatou, come any closure and I will find a use for this extra coral snake venom."

"So that is the hold up," the slug said. "Zabuza get bitten by a snake? Ah, that is just too bad." Haku could hear the grin on his face. "But you know, I guess that is alright. I really wasn't planning on sparing you two anyway."

Haku spun, weapon in hand, ready to take his life. Only to feel the blades of his poor excuse of samurai stab him in the gut. "We were hoping to be able to finish you off," the one with the eye patch said.

"But the boss decided to let you die like this. Not twenty feet from Zabuza but unable to help him. A real sadistic idea," the other said. They pulled their blades out of him. "But one I like."

Gatou went in the room and came out a moment later, laughing. "To see one of the greatest missing nin in that state...just priceless. Worth the money I lost over you." He was about to leave. "Oh yeah, I still owe you for breaking my arm. Let's see..." He lifted up his cane and tapped the veil of serum. "This is what will save his life, isn't it?"

"Don't... you dare...touch that!"

"Touch it? No, heaven forbid." He reached back with his cane and swung it like a club. He broke everything needed to make more... Except the unused poison. "Now, what to do with this? One of the most powerful poisons on earth... Why, I think I shall do what God intended of such things. To be used. Hold him down." The two grabbed Haku and forced him on the ground. Struggle though he might, he couldn't get free. Gatou held it up to examine it. "A beautiful gold color. You wouldn't think it could kill even a adult male. I wonder how long it will take for a child?" He poured it, all of it, into Haku's stomach. Everyone close by could hear his screams.

—oo000oo—

Haku was both freezing and sweating. The bastards didn't even bother to search him. Why should they? The only weapons he had were needles. Haku took out the sering with Zabuza-sama's injection from his pouch. He had frozen most of the poison so this would keep him alive. For what, he didn't know. But at least then he could still do something. Pulling himself up after injecting himself with it, he grabbed a bottle from his cabinet. Sticking the needle in it, his put as much of it as he could inside. One of his men was left here to make sure they died.

Haku wanted to scream with every step he took but he still moved to the door. The bastard was sitting on their couch, eating their food, and with his back to Haku. Good. He only had one chance and that was all he needed. Moving up behind him, Haku pulled up his chin and drove the needle of hydrochloric acid into his neck and emptied it. His death was not quick nor easy.

Haku watched in satisfaction as the acid ate the flesh of his neck and was carried away by his blood stream. He could practically feel the man's body be destroyed from the inside out. His only regret was that it wasn't Gatou.

He couldn't take the time to make sure he got what he deserved though. Sealing what he could still use in a scroll, he emptied his med lab. Making another shot for Zabuza-sama, he gave it to him and picked him up. "Looks like we are no longer at odds," Haku said as he began to drag him away, making sure to grab the Zanbatou as well.

—oo000oo—

"Anko-chan, I'm begging you, not again," Naruto said to his sensei.

"Naruto-kun, are you still hesitating?"

He swallowed and looked at the stream. The term fish or cut bait came to mind. But when he saw what was beyond it, he forgot it. He saw Zabuza and the Hunter nin without his mask coming to them. And the kid was bleeding all over himself. "Is that offer still good?" He collapsed and Naruto caught him.

—oo000oo—

"This house is getting crowded," Tazuna said.

"Would you rather do without," Tsunami asked. She was preparing a new set of bandages for Haku.

"But what is Inari thinking," Tazuna asked his daughter. "He has four ninja that he doesn't respect, a girl that is part shark, and now two ninja that tried to kill me are in our home."

"My son is stronger than that," she told him. "He won't let this get him down." What they didn't know was that Inari was listening. "Just wait, I know that he will overcome this depression. With those three as examples."

"But do you honestly think that is all it takes? Good examples?" He shook his head. He still remembered that last one that tried to inspire by example.

"...Well, take a look. You said it yourself. There is a girl here that everyone thought was a sea monster and we, along with a good portion of the village has enough food to last until your bridge is finished. And because of a single act of kindness, the two biggest threats to your life is here instead of out there wanting to kill you. He will see that Anko and her students are good people and in so many ways already, heroes."

"But heroes die," Inari said to her.

Tsunami shook her head. "Not always, honey. Wait and see, those four are not going to die so easily. Father, Anko said that tomorrow, you can get back to work. They want to draw Gatou out so they can end this."

He nodded, "About time."

—oo000oo—

Haku groaned, "...You are wrapping them too tight," he muttered.

"Sorry, I'm not the best at this."

His face scrunched up in concentration. "I don't recognize that voice. Who are you?"

"My name is Hakari. Naruto and the others have all gone down to protect Tazuna while he is working."

Haku tried to sit up. "But what if he attacks while they are..."

She easily pushed him back down, and not because of her strength. "You two are here and if nothing else, I am here."

"But..."

"Open your eyes, Haku." He did and stared at her. "I am scary enough to keep anyone away. Now go to sleep, just because Anko-san was able to give you a serum, doesn't mean you don't need to rest." Haku nodded and closed his eyes. Soon, his breathing returned to the rhythmic pace that came with sleep.

"Well now," Tsunami said from the door. "You aren't so rough around the edges after all."

"Pf, if he had gotten up, he would have torn open his bandages. And as I am the one watching them, I would have had to sewn them back up. Just saving myself the trouble. ...I don't care one way or another about you humans."

"Right," Tsunami replied, drawing it out. "Oh, Naruto, Sasuke. You're back early. " Hakari smiled as she stood to see her friends...

Before turning her glare on a giggling Tsunami. "My hearing is far better than your's could ever be. I knew they weren't here," she lied.

Tsunami poked her on the chest. "You may be physically stronger than me but I will always win." She had a knowing smile on her face. "Accept it, make it your own, because you will never change it. A woman just knows these things after all. Now how about we go get dinner ready?"

"I hate you, really I do."

—oo000oo—

Naruto found himself chanting something he never thought he would say. "Sushi! Sushi, sushi, sushi!" He was glad to say that titanic tuna was going to good use. "Wasabi sauce and even sweet and sour pork!" He had to force himself not the dive on all of it. "Must use manners... Must use manners..."

Hakari sighed. She had been expecting this. "I already got a tray ready for you and set it outside. Also with a bowl of ramen, Tsunami told me you asked for one when you got here. You can go eat anytime you want." There was an yellow and blue blur. "Where'd he go?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned to Hinata. "So... This is who you want to spend the rest of your life with?"

Hinata was silent for a moment before she started giggling. She knew that Sasuke and Naruto were best friends and they teased each other constantly. She would have it no other way. "Well, he could use a little polishing."

"Oh, that reminds me," Hakari said. She walked outside and saw Naruto. "May I see Fuka-hone?"

"Here," he said with his mouth almost overflowing with food. "Careful, she is sharp along this side."

"...Thought so. Do you know much about this guitar?"

"Not about her origins," Naruto confessed.

"The bones of a North Blue shark called the Yasha Sakana, the only ones that have bones. A deep sea shark that has red glowing stripes along its sides just before it strikes. The sink when they die so they never reach shore."

"Mean?"

"They aren't called the female demon fish for nothing. The males are barely a foot long. The females can get twenty feet long, several thousand pounds, and a real nasty temper."

"...So why are you telling me this?"

"Who do you think fought one of these down and turn it into an instrument? It was either merfolk or fishman. And merfolk are far too much of pacifist to do that."

"So your people made that?"

"Yeah... A lost art that is said to only exist still from the smallest tribe of us in the world. They are supposed to be close to the end of a place called the Grand Line."

"I know about that," Naruto said cheerfully. "Gold Rogers hid his treasure One Piece somewhere and most everyone believes it is at the end as well."

She smiled. "My, aren't you the knowledgeable one. Well, how about this. They gave this a soul. Just like a sword called Samehada. Both of these are very much alive. Though, normally, they won't let anyone but a fishman wield them. Do you realize the honor you have in being able to play her?"

"...A little. But how did she get to that music store?"

"The former owner is probably part fishman himself."

"...You can...breed with human?"

"Yeah, technically I could. Not going to happen though. Never, never, never!"

"Oh, for a moment, I was starting to get afraid you had a crush on me," Naruto replied. "After all, Hinata-chan is my..." A fist hit his head.

"You would have a problem with me being your girlfriend!?"

"No... Hinata-chan is my girlfriend," Naruto told her from the ground.

"Oh... Oops." She went back inside.

"...She is one scary woman. I pity who ever she marries."

—oo000oo—

Zabuza finally stood up. It took a week but he was strong enough to do that now. He was plenty mad when Haku told him about Gatou's betrayal. And he wanted to run after him and take his head from his shoulder's but he couldn't do it. Couldn't do it no either. He couldn't even lift the Zanbatou.

"Lay back down," a commanding voice scolded him. He turned around and saw the girl that Haku described.

"I am leaving."

"Not right now," Hakari told him. "If you so much as even glance at your sword, I will take it from you and turn it into my cooking knife." Zabuza deliberately looked at the Zanbatou. "Fine." She forced him back in his bed, picked up the Zanbatou with one hand, and headed for the door, scaring Zabuza.

"Wait! I'll... Ragh! I'll behave!"

"Better," she said. She leaned it against the wall. "Nice sword."

"One of a kind," he told her.

"Wouldn't hurt to take it to a blacksmith though," she said, "for basic upkeep."

"You're a nurse, nanny, cook, and a blacksmith?"

She frowned. "I know something about making things." She walked away.

"...Women, always mad that men say something wrong. Even when we don't know what it was." He sighed. "Damn it, I wish I at least had a book!"

"Shut up already," Hakari yelled, throwing one at his head.

—oo000oo—

What sounded like someone clicking their tongue and someone else muttering, "Byakugan could be heard from the end of the bridge each day since work resumed. The mist always kept the people doing it hidden but some went so far as to say it was ghost as even those one the bridge never saw them.

Of course, Hakari did. How could she not see them when they were hanging on the under side of the bridge and she was hunting clams that attached themselves to the bridge legs. She took the long way back to Tsunami's home so she could avoid the village. She didn't want to test it if they would welcome her. "I'm back," she said as she walked in. "I got some clams... Maybe I'll get lucky and find a pearl." She placed the bag on the counter of the kitchen. "Tsunami?" Her ears twitched and she ducked. A sword that would have taken her head off flew over her. Years of being ambushed made her grab her knife and stab what attacked her.

It was a samurai with an eye patch. He let out a roar of pain even as Hakari let it go and crossed both arms over his neck. His roar turned into a gurgle as blood came from his torn open throat. The spines on her arms were covered in blood.

She grabbed her knife and went to check the rest of the house. Haku and Zabuza were fine. But she couldn't find Inari or Tsunami. "Tsunami!"

"L-Let my mom go!"

"Shut up, brat or I am going to kill you!" The voices came from outside. "Waraji, did you kill that girl yet!?"

"I said let her go!" Hakari got there just in time to see Inari charge the man with a kitchen knife. The man just laughed as he raised his sword to kill him and a gagged Tsunami screamed.

The glass broke and the man dropped his sword and grabbed his throat. A stiletto had blossomed in it. Inari no longer had his knife, Hakari did. She let out a battle cry, with her eyes narrow slits and drunk with rage, before swinging it down and taking off the air that had held Tsunami. She dropped it and tackled him into the ocean. Blood spread out from that spot as the water was thrashed and tossed about. Then it was calm.

Hakari rose from the water, her knife in her hand and blood coming from her mouth. She walked over to them and cut Tsunami free. She said nothing as she went and grabbed Zabuza's Zanbatou. If they attacked here, then they attacked the bridge.

—oo000oo—

"How many of them are there," Sasuke yelled. He had ran out of chakra long ago. Naruto used the wail again and again. But for some reason, they just got back up and kept fighting. Even Hinata and her Juuken style were not working. The only thing that really did work was totally beating them down. And for that, Anko and Naruto's clones were doing the best.

They had come without warning aboard ships. They climbed up onto the end of the bridge and started attacking anything that moved. The workers and Tazuna quickly fell back behind the ninja. The most disturbing fact about these men was how they smelled of the dead and the sea. Anko bit her thumb and pressed the blood to her palm. "Summoning no Jutsu!" Sune-ku appeared under her. "Sic' em," Anko told him.

The anaconda began to crush them between her coils but the assistance didn't help the odds at all. "Stop," a voice said. Every single one of the bandits stopped and looked to the end of the bridge. A man with a mask and a short man with a cast on his arm walked up.

Gatou grinned. "You have fought better than I expected. Honestly, I thought the Dead Man could handle you alone. But I see you are stronger than that. So how about this, I let you live and hey, I'll even let the workers live. But in exchange you four work for me and Tazuna dies."

Tazuna looked afraid for a moment. But just a moment. Naruto pulled the Fuka-hone from his back. He had found out quickly that genjutsu did not work on these guys. And it felt disrespectful to just swing her around like a club. But he did promise. "Not a chance in hell! We swore our life to protect him! And I'm not going to let some stuck up ass change that!"

"Are you sure? You see, I sent my personal guards to get Tazuna's lovely daughter. They are probably heading here right now, eager to cut her perfect skin. Surely, you do not want his grandson to grow up without his mother or grandfather?"

"You lie," Tazuna shouted.

"Nope," Gatou said with a grin. "They were heading there as soon as you were spotted here."

Sasuke began to grin then laugh. "I feel sorry for those two!"

Even Hinata giggled somewhat. "I hope they were not hurt too bad."

"What are you talking about? All of you are here," Gatou said.

"Yes, we are here," Anko told him. "But we picked up a few odd ones." All three genin sweat dropped at her calling anyone odd. "You even know of two of them. Hmm, what were their names again? Zaku? Dosu? Haku! That was it! Haku and... Hinata, who is the other one?"

She smiled. "I believe his name is something like Zabuza, Anko-sensei."

Gatou scowled. "Can't he even die right!?"

"No," Sasuke said. "And as long as Hakari is there, two, ten, maybe even twenty swordsmen are not likely to be of much use."

"My, it sounds like you are growing fond of her, Sasuke," Naruto teased.

"Pf. As if. I merely respect her strength and skill with knives."

'He sounds like he is telling the truth...' Naruto began to laugh like he heard the funniest joke in the world. "Hey, imagine how your fangirls will take it if they saw you dating her!"

The man in the featureless mask just sighed. He had once again been completely disregarded. "I am the Dead Man, Yenma. These bodies are exactly that, men and woman that died at sea. They have no mind and will give no quarter. You're only chance of survival is to surrender now."

"Just wondering," Anko asked when she turned to him. "What if he betrays you as well."

"I have all that planned. Now, please surrender."

"Oo, a man with manners," Anko said. "If I wasn't taken, I might have to make you mine. But to answer you, no we won't."

"That is too bad," Yenma said. His hands came into a seal and his zombies came back to life. "Atta..."

Something jumped out of the water below and onto the bridge, cutting several of the undead down. Hakari stood there with the Zanbatou. But her normally silver eyes were now bloodshot. The muscles in her arms strained against her skin. In the hand she wasn't weilding the Zanbatou with was dagger. She looked at those around her and they all felt a chill. "Oh shit," Tazuna said.

"What," everyone asked.

"She is part shark...and unless that is ketchup staining her blouse, she has gotten a taste of blood recently."

Naruto swallowed. "Meaning she is in a blood thirst?" She began to cut the monsters down with wild swings of her weapons. She almost got Anko. "I guess that is a yes." She was heading in the direction of Gatou and Yenma.

"Do something," Gatou yelled. "I am paying you a fortune to kill them!"

"Percisely, _them_. Of course, I also noticed that you didn't call those men you brought with you. Did you plan them for something?"

"...I will pay you whatever..." Gatou didn't get to finish. Both he and Yenma were both cut down by Hakari. As one the dead fell to the ground. But there was still a problem. Hakari didn't seem satisfied.

She looked around for more and her eyes settle on Naruto. "...Oh no. Oto Oto Bliss!" Her eyes returned to normal as she stumbled and fell. The Zanbatou slid along the ground only to stop when Sasuke put his foot on it. "Hakari, you okay?"

She was smiling. "I haven't felt this good since I was little more than an infant."

"Glad I was some use today," Naruto said.

Everyone's eyes snapped up when one of the corpses started to move. It stood up and looked at them with a face that was obviously dead. It moaned once before taking a cloth and raising it to his face. After ten seconds, he dropped his hand, revealing a smiling twenty year old with dark blond hair, blue eyes, and a horizontal scar on his forehead. He wasn't even a ninja.

"Not quite how I planned it but it worked. You, young lady, are strong. That was my strongest puppet." He stretched. "Told you I had it all planned out. Gentlemen, if you would please." They bodies got up again and went down into the ships. "Good news all around. I get my money, you keep your lives. By the way, my real name is Robert."

He turned to the ships as the screams started. "I wouldn't even use them for a puppet," Robert said off hand. He held out a hand and one of the zombies placed his mask in his hand. He replaced it and went down to his ship.

They watched him go, and waited for several minutes. All the bodies that could move were gone. "That was just creepy," Tazuna stated. "Why was he even here?"

"To fill the spot of the betrayed," Anko said. "Not many do so the money is good if you do it right. Naruto, make a clone and get her back to the house."

"Of course Anko-chan."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. Done and done. What do you think of this one? I thought Gatou taking advantage of the situation was a good move. As for Robert at the end, just an two bit OC I needed to finish the scene. Not a Devil Fruit. Rather one of the darker Bloodline Abilities.

Don't really have much to say now. So I won't. Update soon.


	10. Chapter 10

"So let me get this right," Zabuza said. "You are going out across the ocean and you want us to come with?"

"Yeah," Naruto said. You both know water jutsu so it would really help us a lot," Naruto said with a smile."

"...No," Zabuza replied.

"I will," Haku said.

"Really," Naruto asked.

"WHAT!?" That surprised Zabuza. Haku never went anywhere without him.

"It is because of him that you are alive, Zabuza-sama," Haku explained. "With he wants me to go with him for a bit, then I will to pay him back."

"...Fine, do whatever."

"But..." Haku started, his eyes wide at having to leave Zabuza for good.

"So, what is the ship we are taking," Zabuza asked Naruto.

"Oh, you are coming too?"

"Hate to say it but where one of us goes, the other goes as well," Zabuza replied. Haku smiled and nodded to Naruto.

"That is being set up, this was one of our last missions before going. Just come back to Konoha with us and I'll send you to meet up with my godfather, his name is Jiriaya, and Yugito-chan." They nodded.

—oo000oo—

The bridge was complete and the six ninja were at the end, ready to leave. "I still can't believe it," Naruto said, ruffling Inari's hair. "The biggest emo I know being the hero! Took on a samurai by yourself and lived to tell the story! And with a kitchen knife!"

"It wasn't that big a deal," Inari said. "Hakari did save us in the end."

"Yeah, where is Hakari," Naruto asked, looking around. He didn't even notice the girl in a white dress and her green hair let loose, growing angry and making a fist. All he did notice was that fist connecting with his head.

"You idiot! Grow up," Hakari yelled at him.

"Ah, I recognize her now," Naruto said from the ground. "I know that right hook anywhere."

"Get up," she said as she grabbed his hand and pulled. "Now you better come back and visit."

"...I don't know, will it be safe?" That got a knee to his gut. He just shrugged it off.

"We'll v, visit," Hinata said. "You w, won't be a, able to k, keep us away."

"That is...if the dobe can keep his mouth shut long enough to leave alive," Sasuke said, a slight smile on his face. Before Naruto could say another thing to get hit for, Sasuke clamped his hand over his mouth.

"Uh... No offense about trying to kill you," Zabuza said to Tazuna. "Part of the job and all."

"No problem. I just hope to never meet you again. No offense."

"Perfectly understandable," Zabuza replied.

Saying their goodbyes, they started walking. Naruto finally got free of Sasuke. "Anyway," he called back, "we won't be able to visit for a while. We're going to the Grand Line!"

"Grand Line," one of the people gathered there asked. Another replied, "Never heard of it."

"It is a belt of islands along the equator," Hakari told them. Then she blinked a few times. "He's going to the Grand Line? WHAT!?" She ran back to their home.

"So, what are we going to name this bridge," another person asked.

Tazuna rubbed his chin. "This is a hero's bridge. Lives fought and lives lost for it. As well as it being the hope of our country." He nodded as he decided. "In honor of the ninjas Anko, Hinata, Sasuke, and Naruto: the Hero's Bridge."

"A good name," Tsunami said with a nod. She was startled when Hakari jumped over the crowd, once again wearing her hunting clothes, with several knives strapped to her person, a pack on her back, and a spear in her right hand. "Where are you going!?"

"Thanks for letting me stay, Tsunami-san! But I'm going with Naruto! I'm going home," she called back with a wave.

—oo000oo—

"You know, it almost seemed like you were hitting on her," Sasuke said to Naruto.

"Nah, she is far too insane for me. But I still think she would be a good match for you," Naruto said with grin. He jumped back as a person drove a spear in the ground a step ahead of him.

"I heard that," Hakari warned.

"COME ON! I waited until we were a mile away to say it," Naruto yelled.

"Why are you here," Anko asked.

"You are going to the Grand Line. I am going with you," she said, pulling the spear from the ground. "I don't care what I have to do, I will go."

"Alright," Naruto said.

"I'm glad you approve, Naruto-kun. But shouldn't you be asking me if I will allow her to come with?"

"Oto... I actually didn't think you would mind," he said as he scratched the back of his head.

Anko sighed. "So, why do you want to go there?"

"I was born on the Grand Line. I was caught by one of the unpredictable currents and taken to North. Hate to tell you this but as I have been there, you need me."

Zabuza grinned under his bandages. "She has a point. Of course, there is a way to keep her from going."

She turned to him and crossed her arms. "And that would be?"

"Easy, tie you up and take you back." Zabuza said, taking a rope from his pouch. Naruto covered his face, this was not going to be pretty. The sounds of a struggle reached his ears along with several jaws hitting the ground. He moved his hands to see Zabuza hog tied with Hakari sitting on him. She even had a piece in his mouth for a gag.

"Anymore takers? You are all strong, especially Naruto. But I am stronger. And you will need that and what I know at the Grand Line. You really don't have a choice. Plus, with me hunting for food, you will have more room for water and fruits."

Naruto looked at Anko expectantly. "While being able to seal things in scrolls does counter her argument, I have to agree with her."

"And are you an expert in ocean travel," Anko countered. She did not expect the answer.

"Yes. I have read more books about it than I can remember the title of. The weather will change in minutes. There will be sun, blizzard, drought, rains to cause floods if we were on land. And all within the same day. Not to mention scurvy, sickness, and other things that can be helped just by being able to get a few common items on the sea floor but obviously hard to get on land."

Anko frowned. "The Hokage decides."

Naruto smiled in victory. "You are all but aboard, Hakari."

Not long later, Hinata tripped. She tried to get up but her ankle gave out. "Hey, hold up," Naruto said as he crouched down. "You okay, Hinata-chan?"

She nodded. "I j, just twisted m, my ankle. C, Can you h, help m, me up?"

"I can do better than that." He lifted her up and placed her on his back. "I don't mind carrying you, Hinata-chan." He said with a smile at how she blushed. He really thought she looked cuter when she did.

But Hinata wasn't blushing because of how close she was to Naruto-kun. Or rather, not fully. She was blushing because her plan had actually worked.

Naruto felt Hinata slump forward and looked up at her. "Oto?"

—oo000oo—

A man with silver hair and shoulder pads watched the video again and again. Hiashi was able to keep the powers of his fruit under control for much longer than any other. One would ask why. He had discovered that these 'ninja' as they were called used something called chakra. He had no doubt that was what caused it. With a grin, he stood and went to find another. Too bad they were only from the West Blue.

"Diedara, do you fear death?"

—oo000oo—

Jiriaya shook hands with the captain. "A pleasure doing business with you."

The scarred man just grinned a mile wide smile. "Glad to do it. Too bad I am really going to get it from my navigator for scoffing at her when she said we will get some great things here. Those scrolls of yours about emptied our storage hold. Our only worries now is if the get wet and the items unseal."

Yugito nodded, "That will either cause it to burst or get so heavy it will sink. So, are you really so powerful?"

He grinned even wider. "Yeah. I may not be a dumb kid anymore but I am still unbeatable."

"When can we leave?"

"Supplies will be finished being gathered by the end of the week. You and her keep sealing them and we'll be done even sooner." He adjusted his hat.

Jiriaya grinned as well. "Then I will send for the rest of our people that is going."

The first mate slammed down his mug. "Don't really care for the taste of you drink here, saki. I think I must prefer grog."

—oo000oo—

Sasuke never felt so many hateful stares come his way before. And they weren't even directed at him. They were all to Hakari. The worst of it...it was only coming from girls around his age. She got there and, while there were stares, no one really wondered twice about her. But his fangirls... Naruto had been right.

"Thanks again Sasuke."

"It is fine. It actually makes sense. You being part fish, it is obvious that you need a lot of water."

"...When I am older, I won't need it as much as my body will make better use of the water it has. But for now, I literally need to spend my days soaking."

"I don't mind," Sasuke said again.

"I've been wondering, why does no one think twice about me?"

"I figure they believe you just have a bloodline trait. Wouldn't be the first to look odd for it."

Hakari nodded as they came to the hot springs. She could still feel the girls glares. "You change over as well. There is something I want to talk to you about while we are in there."

—oo000oo—

"Alright, now what is it," Sasuke said over the wall.

"I am tired of those twits. How do you put up with them?"

He sighed. "Naruto normally runs interference before they get to bad. And Hinata had it bad for Naruto, he was the only one that didn't know it. They didn't care about her. But you are a new girl with a strongly present bloodline. Even if you weren't easy on the eyes, you will find guys lining up to date you."

"Just for abilities like Naruto has?"

"Yeah. The truth is, having a bloodline is power in Konoha. Our village has the most out of all the hidden villages."

Hakari sighed. "This is going to be so troublesome."

"A friend of Naruto's, and mine, says the same thing all the time."

Hakari snapped her fingers. "Then we need to make them believe we are taken."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "How?"

"Make them think I have a boyfriend and you a girlfriend."

"But who... Are you suggesting we act like we are together to not only make them mad, also make them stop?" He could hear the laughter in her voice when she answered yes. "...Alright, I'm in. But no going father than holding hands."

When they finished, they walked back to her temporary apartment, testing her plan. Many girls screamed in fury, cried tears of sadness, and had fits of rage. While most guys simply shrugged and grumbled about "Uchiha get all the luck. Like it's a family bloodline."

When they got there, they saw a laughing Naruto. "Told you."

—oo000oo—

Team Anko, Zabuza and Haku, and Hakari walked into the port town that Jiriaya waited in. "...His message said the ship was at that dock," Anko said. Naruto froze when he saw the figurehead. It was that of a lion that looked more like the sun.

"No way... Is that the Thousand Sunny?"

"Sure is," a voice said behind them. Naruto spun around to see a green headed man. He wore a sash and on his left ear was an ear ring with three things of gold that dangled from it. And, most importantly, were three swords at his waist.

"...Ro...Ro...Roronoa Zoro!" Naruto was jumping all around him. "I can't believe it! The greatest swordsman ever to sail the Grand Line or the East Blue, here is our country! These are the swords that defeated Mihawk! That is it, isn't it? The sword that once belonged to a friend of yours!?"

"Whoa, calm down now," Zoro said. "From your reaction, you must be Naruto. Your godfather told me you would do that."

"Yeah! I was told stories of your adventures since I was little!" Something seemed to dawn on him. "This means Monkey D. Luffy is here!" He ran off. "Tony Tony Chopper! Usopp! Sanji! Nami! Nico Robin! Franky! ...And Brook!" He grinned at that one. "Time to test his violin to my Fuka-hone."

Naruto stopped running. "But I don't know where they are." He sat down cross-legged on the floor. "Hmm, Sanji and Jiriaya will probably be together. Maybe Brook as well. Franky will be looking for upgrades... If uncle wasn't exaggerating. Usopp or Sogeking will be getting new supplies for weapons. Zoro is back with the ship. Chopper might be getting more medical supplies. Hmm... Not many archaeologist dig site around hear so I can't say. And Nami..." A woman bumped into him

"Oh, I'm sorry," She said before trying to walk off. But Naruto grabbed her arm.

"And Nami is right here, doing the thing she does best, next to drawing maps," he said with a grin. "Too bad I noticed you lifting my wallet."

"I did not!" Naruto grinned before pulling his hand. The ninja wire attached to it pulled it from behind her, back into his hand. "Now how did that get there?"

"Oh, I'm sure Gama-chan just hopped over on his own. What do you think, Nebi-chan?" The snake lifted her head and flicked her tongue at Nami. "But of course, we aren't here to hurt her. Or even get mad about the wallet. After, no one can hurt you without getting your captain mad at them."

"Hey Nami! What are you doing here?" A person with a straw hat walked up to them. He had a scar under his right eye.

"She was heading to the Thousand Sunny with chart of the sea back to the Red Line and I caught her. Luffy, I am Uzumaki Naruto. And I'm going with you to the Grand Line." Luffy just began to laugh.

—oo000oo—

Hakari and Naruto pulled up the anchors and gave Usopp the thumbs up. The ship set sail to on the adventure that Naruto has always wanted.

After a bit, he became aware that a set of eyes were watching him. He turned and smiled. "Yes, Brook-san?"

"Jiriaya said you play a fair hand with the guitar."

"And every other instrument."

Brook nodded. "And that you also use them in combat."

"I do."

"...Dual me."

"You toss down the gauntlet, so I choose the weapons and terms." He took out a scroll and unrolled it. It was over four feet of sealed instruments. He took out a banjo. "Dueling Banjos. Of course, if you don't know it..."

Brook took the instrument offered and tuned it. "You do a good job with up keeping this."

"Thank you," Naruto said. He took Fuka-hone off his back. "I must look like the living version of you."

"I looked better," Brook said with a laugh.

Naruto strummed his guitar first and Brook followed on his banjo. He hit the three note and again he followed perfectly. They got through the opening with no problem. And Naruto grinned as he jumped the pace up ten fold. And Brook kept pace. So Naruto started double tuning, meaning he hit the note twice in the same instant. Brook took it to triple.

It was a dual of epic proportions but like all good things, it came to an end. Both of them had been looking each other in the eyes so they didn't notice that their instruments were very hot. "Yo! Do it again," Luffy cheered.

"By piano's this time," Brook challenged.

"I use Fuka-hone. Not that it will matter." He flicked a string and it made a piano string of the same note. "Both Fuka-hone and I have been waiting for a chance like this. But I got one better.

"...Shiver my timbers, shiver my soul, yo ho heave ho. There are men who's hearts are as black as coal. Yo ho heave ho. And they sail their ship across the ocean blue. A bloodthirsty captain and a cut throat crew. Its as dark a tail as was ever told of the lust for treasure and the love of gold."

Brook picked it up there. "Shiver my timbers, shiver my sides, yo ho heave ho. There are hungers as strong as the winds and tides. Yo ho heave ho. And those buccaneers drown their sins in rum. The devil himself would have to call them scum. Any man aboard would have killed his mate for a bag of guineas or a piece of eight. Piece of eight, a piece of eight, a piece of eight! Five, six, seven, eight."

"Hulla wacka ulla wacka something not right. Many wicked icky things gonna happen tonight. Hulla wacka ulla wacka sailor man beware. When de money in the ground dere's murder in de air. Murder in de air. One more time now.

"Shiver my timbers, shiver my bones,yo oh heave ho. There are secrets that sleep with old Davy Jones. Yo oh heave ho. When the mainsail's set and the anchor's weighed, there's no turning back from any course that's laid. And when greed and villainy sail the sea, you can bet your boots there'll be treachery.

"Shiver my timbers, shiver my sails. Dead men tell no tales."

Most of the crew laughed at that song. It couldn't have been farther from the truth for them. "I bet you've been wanting to say a line like that third one forever, Brooks," Zoro said.

"Yeah, I kind of have," he said, scratching his afro. "Alright, you're good," he admitted to Naruto.

"I expected no less from a man that spent fifty years practicing every thing he could," Naruto replied.

Yugito came up, smiling at him. "Nice one, Naruto-kun."

"Hi, Yugito-chan. I see you are taking to the sea well."

She shrugged. "A tiger is also a cat and they swim all the time. Seems you were busy without me."

"A little," Naruto said with a grin. "Ever been chased by a giant snake that tried to eat you?"

"Can't say I have."

"I can. All part of training."

Yugito shook her head. "Your sensei is insane."

"You know, I said that same thing when I first met her." He suddenly felt this feeling of dread and decided to retract that remark. "But, honestly, I would have her no other way."

A kunai touched his cheek. "And here," Anko said, licking his cheek, "I thought I was going to have to hurt you. So, 'crazy' does it for you, eh?"

Naruto shivered. "Not like you mean," he told her. "But you are one of my good friends. And things are never boring around you." Anko was satisfied with that answer and let him go. When she had her back to him, he did a full body shiver."

"N, Naruto-kun, are you al, alright," Hinata asked, coming up.

Naruto smiled. "I'm fine. Just Anko-chan being Anko-chan. By the way, this is my friend Yugito."

"A pleasure," she said. "Nii Yugito, formerly of the Lightning Country." She saw Hinata stiffen and smiled much like a cat did. "Problem," she asked innocently.

"N, No, Y, Yugito-san. I j, just h, had a b, bad ex, experience w, with Cl, Cloud ninja once."

Naruto frowned. "Yugito, stop being mean to Hinata. I know you know about it."

"Oh, you ruined my fun," Yugito said, pouting a little. But then she grew serious. "Hyuuga-san, on behave of the current Raikage, I apologize for the actions of the Third Raikage. What he did was not looked kindly on before he did and after he tried and failed, he was forcibly removed. I know this will not begin to compensate you for the lost of your uncle."

"...How did you know," Hinata asked, stunned right out of stuttering. "No one, not even the Hokage knows that it was my uncle that was sent."

Yugito chose not to answer. And Naruto looked away himself. He had an idea since she was keeping quite. The same thing he had not found the courage to tell her. "Oto... Uh, Sogeking, are those the same trees from the Merry Go?"

"Yes, those are the Mikan trees from Nami's home village," Sogeking told them.

Naruto nodded, smiling. He had a great hand at taking care of plants. "...Maybe when I get my own ship, I will have a Ramen Tree on it."

"Ano..."

"Uh, Naruto, there is no such thing as a Ramen tree."

"One, it is only a dream so why not? Two, we are out to get rid of a fake Devil Tree that made a fruit that drove man insane while giving him the ability to control fire. Why not?"

Sogeking laughed. "I have seen many weird things while sailing the ocean. I have seen a creature called a 'cocofox', half fox, half chicken. Seeing a tree that grew ramen would not be all that odd." He went up to the main mast and took the crows nest.

"Oh well, Naruto-kun, lets go fishing," Yugito said. "I asked Luffy and he said as long as we tie off, we can go in."

"Uh, I can't swim," Naruto said even as Yugito grabbed a few ropes.

"No worries, just hold you breath," Yugito said as she tied it around his waist.

"No, you don't understand, Yugito! If I go underwater, I could die!" he yelled as he pushed her off.

"But... That doesn't make since," Yugito said.

"Naruto has a Kekkei Genkai," Sasuke said from where he was sitting. "He can control sounds but it made his body un float able. Either that or his head is too dense."

"..." She cast a side long look to Naruto. That certainly sounded familiar. "Like a person that ate a Devil Fruit," Yugito said.

"...Yeah, just like it. Odd, no?" Naruto said, not sounding the least bit nervous. "But I know why. Along with my more noticeable skills, my muscles are extremely strong. They are denser than a normal person so I sink."

Now Yugito has many skills in her arsenal. One of them being that she instinctively knew when someone lied to her. The only drawbacks were that if the person spoke truthfully but what he had been told was a lie. Or if they had been speaking the lie for so long, it had all but become fact to them. Right now, she could tell he wasn't lying so she backed off.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Swimming is so fun."

"I know, it used to be my favorite thing to do before it activated. But I would drown now."

'I wonder,' Yugito thought as an idea struck her. But she would have to test it later. "Well, I guess we can use polls. I'll be right back. Hinata, can you help me look?"

"...S, Sure." They went below decks and started going through scrolls.

"He is kind of cute," Yugito said off hand.

"Sasuke-kun," Hinata asked. "He is the most popular boy around our age at our village."

But Yugito shook her head. "Not him, Naruto. I actually owe him for being free right now. I left my village because I was tired of my treatment. I was making my way to a port to escape it and had stopped at a tavern to get something to eat. And Naruto was there playing."

"Really," Hinata ask, very interested. "Naruto-kun didn't tell me. But then, he didn't even tell me that he can't swim until our last mission."

"Everyone has their secrets, Hinata. We have secrets we don't dare tell others. And being that Naruto is an orphan, I doubt he had the needed people that he could just go up to and talk with."

Hinata nodded. "Anyway, he was playing..."

"Yeah. He was singing and spotted me as a shinobi even though I wasn't wearing my headband. He came up and talked to me and we spoke for a bit. Then these hooded men entered. He clicked his tongue and somehow knew they were hunter nin." She smiled and blushed a little. "Now this part stays between you and me. He only did it to hide my face from them but I still liked it." She leaned over eagerly to her. "He kissed me full on the lips. I know he was just doing it to hide me from them but I couldn't help but for a moment pretending that he did it because he cared for me."

Hinata looked destroyed. She was so heartbroken that she began to cry. "Hey, hey, what happened," Yugito asked worriedly.

"...I... I love Naruto-kun. And he kissed you."

"Whoa, whoa! You care for him as well!? Don't I just feel like a bitch. I'm sorry, I thought it would be nice to just talk like a normal person does. I guess I shouldn't." She began going through the scrolls again, too guilty to look at her. From the door, Hakari shook her head and walked away, still not noticed.

"...Do you really care for him," Hinata asked, her head hung low.

"You aren't thinking about giving up on him, are you!? No, I won't let you. I was hoping that maybe I can make friends with you, Sasuke, Haku, and Hakari. And I won't do something if it ruins that chance."

"Please, just answer."

"...I do. But it isn't really much. Just at first I was grateful that he saved me from those nins. And later, Jiriaya did nothing but talk about how proud he is of him."

"He is incredible," Hinata said, looking up and drying away a few tears. "I will tell you what. _If _you can take him. He is your's. But not only am I trying as well, I already know he likes me back."

Yugito grinned. "For a moment, you had the look of a huntress about you. Fine, I accept your challenge. On the condition that we stay friends. He maybe cute but I won't let him come between a friendship." She stuck out her hand. "Deal?"

Hinata nodded and grasped her hand. "Deal." She stood up and ran back to the deck, two fishing poles in hand.

"No fair," Yugito cried out. She unsealed another from the one the scroll Hinata got hers and started after her. She had only taken a step when she noticed something else on the scroll. She grinned and headed back to it.

—oo000oo—

"N, Naruto-kun," Hinata said when she got back. "H, How about f, fishing with m, me instead?"

He smiled. He looked around and saw Yugito didn't follow so he turned back to Hinata. "Sure. Do you have the bait?"

Hinata's face fell slack. "Bait?"

"So that the fish will bite the hooks," Naruto supplied. "Without bait, all the hooks will do is rust."

"I got some," Yugito said, holding up her own pole and a tackle box. "There should be another inside the same scroll, Hinata. Just go grab it and you can join us. This one is too small to share."

"No it isn't," Naruto said. He took it and pulled down the buckle. He then pulled on the top shelves and it went up and extended outwards, showing more the than enough bait for ten people. "See, we all can fish." Naruto smiled happily at them. While both hung their heads, their plans undone by this blond unknowingly to him. "Oto, something wrong?"

"No," they both said.

—oo000oo—

Up on the bridge, Jiriaya just chuckled at his godson. Even Zabuza beside him laughed. "Yugito, one. Hinata, one. Naruto, two," the Demon of the Mist said. "I have never seen plans shot down with so much ease before. And yet, he doesn't even know."

Haku grinned at the two blonds and the indigo head. "This promises to be one fun trip."

"Oh, it is now," Robin said. "Just wait until we get to the Grand Line. Then you will be so busy you won't even notice them."

"Ah, but I noticed something else," Sanji said. He pointed to where Sasuke and Hakari were coiling a rope. "She leaves, comes right back. They barely say two words to each other but are most comfortable together." He took his dying cigarette from his mouth and used it to light another. "The oddest couple I have ever heard of."

Chopper nodded his head. Of the crew, he had changed the most. He wasn't a child anymore and it showed. He was almost as tall as Nami in his hybrid form. And his human form was near nine feet tall. "This ship is turning into the Love Boat," he said.

Nami laughed at his statement. "Ah, our little Chopper wishing to find someone special himself? Or maybe you will take the one Naruto doesn't want."

"Too young for me," Chopper replied. "Besides, honestly, who would like a talking reindeer like that?"

Zoro hit him on the head. "Don't even go into one of those moods right now. And besides, its your own fault that you won't let people close to you. Remember that girl at Yarukiman Grove?"

"Or Ukkari," Sanji said.

"And there was Angel Island," Nami reminded.

"Even I can name one, doctor-san," Robin said.

Chopper hung his head in defeat. "Okay, you got me. It just feels odd, meeting new people, always had." He grinned as he looked up. "Remember when I met you guys?"

"Who could forget," Luffy said with a grin just as big. "Hmm." He opened the door. "Mr Uzumaki, name the heading!" Naruto snapped his head to Luffy. Then he looked around as if he hadn't heard him right, and pointed at his chest. "Of course you! Name the heading and we will head there!"

Naruto grinned. With a look up at the sun to get his bearings, he remembered all the sea charts he memorized, and pointed to the distant Reverse Mountain. "Set sail for the Grand Line!"

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes. Come on, don't tell me you didn't see that last part coming. Luffy said the same thing when he first set sail. So it was only right that he gave the same thing to someone else that had a dream like his. And I will get into One Piece in the next chapter. I have no idea but I have a guess.

So, what does Davy Jones, as I have been calling him for now, have planned with Diedara? I know, I know. But that is for later. But now we know why he 'saved' Hiashi. Because he was ninja. Now, I am not planning to but would Diedara eating the fruit that Mr. 5 ate seem right or a waste of time since he already makes bombs? I think it might be a waste. Nothing really artful about picking your nose.

The songs in this one was Dueling Banjos and Shiver my timbers. I know that I used that one before but I felt it was needed. I can't imagine the Straw Hat crew a 'bloodthirsty captain and a cut throat crew'. It actually made me laugh. I know Chopper is nothing like that. But I wanted to show that they grew up. And right now, Chopper, I think, is a teenager. Does Usopp stay Sogeking for long in the manga? I tried to find out but nothing confirmed.


	11. Chapter 11

The man in his office scratched the back of his head in confusion. By all accounts, the team in the document he was reading was very promising and skilled already. Yet Sarutobi was sending them out to sea, if his spies were to be believed. Not only them though. Toad Sage Jiriaya and a blond haired girl along with another girl that has a water born Kekkei Genkai. As well as the two latest to join the Hidden Leaf, Demon of the Bloody Mist, Momichi Zabuza and his apprentice Haku.

"Something big is going on out there," he said to the ninja in front of him. "The reports I have received on Sarutobi's adopted grandson to this point said that he would make chunin as soon as he could take the test. But the Hokage sent him and his team south to the South Blue. Why?"

"Your orders, Kazekage-sama," Baki asked. "Will we still accept the offer?"

Sabaku looked down and closed his eyes a moment. "No. Leaf sent a team with strong members to sea, meaning there is something worth the time and trouble out there. Orochimaru will have to invade Konoha by himself. I have a different mission for you, Baki. I want you to take my children and follow the Leaf. Your contract with the eagles will enable you to follow them. Keep out of their sight but them in yours. And when they find what is so valuable, take it from them."

Baki nodded. "As you command, Kazekage-sama." He turned and headed to the door.

"And Baki," Sabaku said. "Should my son Gaara drown at sea, please send word of it right away."

"As I would have with any of your children," Baki replied, not looking at him. He walked out and went in search of his genin to tell them their mission.

—oo000oo—

"It is time to move," Pain said. "Itachi, Kisame, find the Nine Tailed Fox. He has set sail to your homeland, Kisame."

The fishman grinned. "That will make it all the more easy. Looks like Konoha's Song is about to be silenced."

Itachi said nothing. But his hand felt the old mask under his cloak before he turned and headed to the closest port. Only two ways to get to Kisame's homeland, through Reverse Mountain or the Calm Belt. And Kisame would insist the Calm Belt to make up the time lost to their head start.

"Sasori, you go with them." Both Kisame and Itachi stopped and looked back at him. "The One Tail is heading after them.

"...It will be hard to do without a partner," Sasori replied.

"That is why you are going with Itachi, Kisame, and Kakuzu."

"Kakuzu is coming as well," Kisame said with a frown.

"Yes. Because the Two Tails sails with the Nine," Pain explained.

"What next," Kisame asked. "They going to keep the Three Tails as a pet?" Pain didn't answer. "Holy shit... Don't tell me he is involved as well!?"

"Isonade moves in a pattern," Kohan said to them. "This year in his twenty four year cycle, he passes through the equator."

"The twelve year calamity," Kisame said with a sigh. "Why am I surprised. So we got two people that have yet to get partners coming with. By the way, what happened to those two you wanted?"

"Both Diedara and Hidan have vanished," Pain said. "Now go, your ship, the Shield and Sword, is at the city Tokyo. You are hunting the Thousand Sunny and the Evening Star. And if you find Isonade while you are there, capture him."

"It will be done," the two newcomers said before following the other two.

"...Itachi doesn't seem to like this assignment," Kohan stated. "And Kisame was quiet as well."

"Itachi at one time assisted the Hokage. It entailed watching Naruto," Pain told her. "And Kisame is a berserker like all of his people. And the more that goes, the less fighting there will be for him."

"Pain, I sense something deeper," Kohan told him. "I don't know what but something is at play here. Three Jinchuuriki and a bijuu all heading to the same spot. What is the chance of this?"

"It matters not, Kohan. All that matters is that we get the Nine together." Pain turned and left the room himself.

—oo000oo—

"Naruto, Hakari, grab the mail sail line," Zoro yelled. "Usopp, distance to the Reverse Mountain!?"

"...Four hundred meters," he called from the crow's nest. "Alright you two, when I give the signal, you are going to pull to the right or left to help turn the ship!"

"Aye aye, sir," they yelled up at him. The wind was really blowing fierce and the current had grabbed them like no other thing could. The sail was all that remained to turn the ship by normal means. But then, they always had plan B and C. Naruto would rather have plan C used. Being saved by blowing up like a balloon was good in the story, too close for real life.

They were coming closure to the wall. "Pull to port!" The yardarm groaned at being forced to turn like it was but it shifted along the mast and they drifted right. "...Straighten the sail!" They pulled and the Thousand Sunny was pulled back to on course.

They went up the mountain with two feet to spare on the port. Naruto wiped his forehead of sweat and grinned. "Not bad for our first disaster. Now we got the peak to worry about."

Hakari found his grin infectious. "Like I will let a mountain stand between me and my home!"

Hinata and Hinata looked down on the two with slightly worried looks, with a little awe at being able to do such a feat. But Haku waved it off when he noticed them. "She is something like a sister to him, don't worry."

"What makes you think we are worried," Yugito asked.

"Ano... What do you mean like a sister?"

"Hakari talked to me while I was recovering. She talked about Naruto like an older sister with her annoying little brother. But she is older than us by a year. And when Naruto talks about her, it is with sibling admiration. He loves to tease her and has fun doing it no end. Brother and sister. You should have heard that big fish story. I thought he was joking until he brought in the head of that titanic tuna. Wrestled it for an hour and Naruto took another hour to recover his chakra."

"Well, we have nothing to be worried about anyway," Yugito said. Hinata kind of ruined that when she sighed in relief.

Jiriaya was at the bow, waiting. If the Sunny didn't turn right, he would force it to change. They reached the top, and Jiriaya already had his thumb bleeding. But it wasn't needed. Chopper and Sanji got her to turn. "A perfect chance to impress such lovely young things lost," Jiriaya moped.

Naruto was having the time of his life as the wind whipped by, grabbing his hair. "We rolled up interstate forty four, like a rocket sled on rails! We tore up all of our shingle sheets and left them sitting on the scales! By the time we hit that shy town, those bears were getting smart! They brought up reinforcements from the Illinois National Guard!"

"What on earth are you singing," Hakari asked.

"A song called Convoy," Naruto replied. "This just reminded me of that line!"

They hit the open ocean and went over two hundred feet before slowing down. "Nice," Zabuza stated. "I doubt it is always that smooth."

"You should have been with us on our first time through," Nami said. "Almost crashed into an iceberg."

"Like a bad movie, ship and ice included," Sasuke said. "No doubt, Naruto knows all about it."

"He does," Jiriaya replied. "After I told him the first story, he had to know what happened to the Straw Hat Pirates."

"Huh," Hinata said. "Ano, Usopp-san, what is that?" She pointed out to something in the distance. He raised a telescope and looked.

"Luffy, you are never going to believe this," he called down. "It's a ship...with our flag!"

"WHAT!?" He grabbed the crow's nest railing from the deck and shot up there. HE took the telescope and looked through it. "Sanji, they are getting ready to attack us!"

"What is going on," Jiriaya called.

"Uncle, those pirates are flying false colors to scare people into submission," Naruto explained. "But to their bad luck, this happens to be the crew they are pretending to be. Captain, hoist the colors?"

"You know it," Luffy yelled. "Usopp, go ready the cannons!"

Naruto ran up the mast with the flag. When he was at the top, he smiled as he unfolded it and attached it to the rope. The twin flags seemed to glare at each other. But the fake lost the effect it should have had with the real owners glaring with it. "Hard to port," Luffy yelled. "Head straight at them!"

Naruto laughed and called to the ship. "This is the Thousand Sunny, Captained by Monkey D. Luffy! Surrender now or we will crash your ship!" He swore he heard someone from it say 'he wouldn't'. "He would! ...Doesn't look like they are going to quit."

"Of course not," Franky said. "A flag is the honor of a ship. To steal it is an offense that can never be pardoned. They knew what would happen if they ever met us. Time to earn your keep," he yelled to them.

Hakari stepped back a few feet before running and jumping over the railing. Naruto would follow as soon as they got within cannon range. "Haku, are those Ice Mirrors really as strong as you say," he asked.

"Nothing that I have found can break it. Why?"

"Because those are cannons and they are about to fire something big and mean at us. A little protection wouldn't hurt." Haku nodded and the mirrors covered outer hull of the ship.

The first shots came at them and hit the mirrors. They cracked under the force of them but just as Haku said. Nothing was stronger. Luffy laughed, "Wish we had you when we first came this way. Let's hurry and finish this! We need to stop and say hi to Laboon!" They saw the water shoot upwards by the deck of the other pirate ship. Hakari came down on the deck, her spear ready to impale any that came at her.

Naruto grinned he ran along the deck and grabbed the grapples. Usopp fired a few shots from the forward cannons and took out theirs. "The ship name is the Ebon Hawk," Anko said, finally catching sight of it. "Looks like we get to have some fun after all on this trip. I was getting bored." Both her and Jiriaya pressed their blood to their palms. A large white snake and a tree frog with two ninja-to appeared.

"Jiriaya-sama, this is sea water," the frog said.

"I know, not your forte. But we are about to board, and that is your forte."

The frog licked one of his blades. "Slaughter, slaughter, total slaughter... I won't leave a single man alive." The genin shivered, they have found the Anko among the toads.

Naruto jumped off the deck, taking the ropes with him. He landed on the water, ran to the Ebon Hawk, and jumped onto the deck. He threw the hooks as he did, lashing the ships together. "Oto Oto wail!" Several men fell to the deck, clutching their heads. One of the had something shiny on his wrist. Naruto relieved him of his log pose. "Thank you," he said, giving him a kick to the head. "Oto Oto charm!" It appeared that nothing happened but people stopped attacking him and started looking at him. "Can you point out who is the Captain?"

They were confused. They knew that a moment before he was an enemy but now something seemed different and he wasn't. One of them pointed to man with a gun with several barrels pointed at the group. Naruto dived to the side just before he started firing. Jutte, the frog, hopped onto the deck, swinging his blades. "Mark the tides and hoist the sail, we make for the sea. We seek adventure, blood is our trail, on this lost sea," the frog sang happily. Even Naruto was put off by his song.

The Hawk lurched as the Sunny was brought next to it. The rest of the ninja and crew crossed over, eager to join the battle.

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked at it. The Ebon Hawk was a good ship. The damage done by Usopp's expert shots still left her seaworthy. "What are we going to do with her," he asked Luffy.

"Can't take her with us," Luffy said, shaking his head. "We scuttle her."

Naruto felt his heart sink with that. "Mind if my friends and I go over her one last time?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Luffy said. He knew what bothered him. But the agreement said nothing about leading them from another ship. And it would be nothing but trouble without an experienced crew to sail her.

Naruto, Hinata, Yugito, Hakari, Sasuke, Haku, Zabuza, and Anko boarded the doomed Brigantine and looked around. This was a large, fast ship that needed only a small crew. It was also the best thing they could take a look at to get to know ships better as the Thousand Sunny was far from a normal ship. It was a two masted vessel with ten cannons on it. The hold was fairly large and almost fully stocked with food, water, goods, and cannon supplies. After a bit, they realized one of their members was not there. And they knew exactly where to find him.

Naruto was at the helm, his hands playing over the wheel. "...Hoist the sails, we are turning into the squall," he daydreamed.

"Sounds like rough seas," Hakari stated.

"Just a dream," Naruto said dismissively. But he still held the wheel. Right up until there was a splash of a cannon being fired at them. They ran to the side and saw a ship that looked like it rose from the bottom of the sea heading at them. "More like a nightmare!"

"Surrender all those that has eaten the fruit of the Devil's tree," they heard a voice say. "...Do you fear death? If so, surrender them and the rest will be set free."

"Cut free the Hawk," Naruto yelled. "The Sunny won't be able to run with her attached!" Jutte ran along the Sunny's railing, cutting the ropes. "Get over th..." A wind stronger than even going up the mountain hit them and both ships lurched away from each other. Looking behind them, they saw another ship. This one from the West Blue by design. The flag atop it showed the symbol of the Hidden Sand Village. "Uncle!?"

Jiriaya looked at it from the top of the aft castle on the Thousand Sunny. "They must have followed us to see why we are here! Naruto, get over here now!"

"You heard him," Anko yelled. They ran to the railing... just as a bomb hit the water next to the ship, rocking it. Most of them was thrown to the deck. Naruto fell over board.

"Naruto-kun," Yugito and Hinata yelled, racing to the side. Both of them jumped over and saw Naruto sinking quickly. He struggled to slow his descent but nothing he did worked. Chakra spread from his fingers to create a kind of webbing and he used that. He nearly stopped but with most of his strength taken away by the sea, he only had his normal muscles and chakra to work with.

Yugito and Hinata swam down, grabbed him, and started for the surface. They broke it and looked around. It was a battlefield now. Debris could be seen along with small fires. The Ebon Hawk wasn't that far away but the Thousand Sunny was gone. They swam to it, with Naruto barely able to do much. As soon as he pulled himself from the water, he returned to normal. Flopping down on the deck, he took several minutes to catch his breath.

"What...happened?"

"The Sunny and that ship ahead of us started firing at each other. They both took hits but it was obvious that unless they got to close quarters combat, the Sunny would lose," Anko said.

"But that other ship was circling them," Zabuza told him. "No way it was going to happen. So they revealed this really big... cannon I think it was, and fired it. It took that un-named ship out in that one shot. But with it, the Thousand Sunny was gone."

"That Suna ship is getting closer," Haku warned them. "There is a blond on the castle using this fan to always give them the wind."

"...Naruto, what do we do," Sasuke asked.

"What?"

"You are the one that knows ships," Hakari pointed out. "We can do the work, just tell us what to do."

Naruto was dumbfounded. He had always wanted a ship but this was not how he dreamed it would go. "...Hakari, Zabuza, let loose the sails and tie the rigging tight! That wind isn't stopping at their sails so we are going to catch it! Sasuke, Yugito, raise the anchors! Haku, Anko, find some barrels marked 'powder' or something of the like. Bring...two barrels of it and as many cannon balls as you can to the aft castle cannons! We might be able to gain a little speed by firing behind us. Go!"

He turned to Hinata. "Bring me a chart, quickly. I need to know how far we are from the Calm Belt!" She nodded, more than a little afraid. They were all in new water here and none of them was sure. Naruto spun the wheel until the sails caught the full wind. He was heading north.

Taking a moment, he looked behind him at the other ship. It was a square shaped ship with a ribbed sail. "A Junk," Naruto stated. A three mast ship, they could, and that one probably did, hold twenty or more cannons without losing their low depth in the water, meaning they could move faster with the right captain. But they pushed water aside with their square front, not slide through it like the Ebon Hawk was designed to do. Likely, against the winds, the Junk was faster. But Naruto would be damned if the Hawk was out run now.

"Here, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, giving him the sea chart.

Naruto looked at it and guessed their location to how far Reverse Mountain was behind them. "Okay, we are ten minutes from the Calm Belt! If we can get there, I will bet my headband we will lose them! The problem is we might lose our heads going there."

"As opposed to will lose our heads if we stay here," Anko yelled. "They aren't sending any friendly signals!"

"Good point! Anyone know any Fuuton jutsus to give us a bit more speed!?"

"Yeah," Yugito replied. "It isn't much but it doesn't take much chakra or skill to use."

"Stand right here and use it as often as you can for as long as you can," Naruto said, pointing to in front of him. "Anko-chan, do you know how to use those cannons!?"

"...Not really," she yelled up to him. Naruto created several shadow clones and they ran down to her. They loaded the two while they helped Anko and Haku with the third. "Fire on the ship!?"

"No, when I tell you to, fire at the water behind us! They haven't fired on us so they want to take us alive! They might change their minds though! Hinata, grabbed on of the clones and go get some bloody meat and take it to the forward cannon!"

"What are you planning," Zabuza asked.

The wind suddenly died down around them except from Yugito. "The Calm belt is, concerning the weather and seas, the safer way to get to the Grand Line," Naruto told them. A moan could be heard from the sea. "But is holds more than it's fair share of monsters. And blood will get them riled up." The cannons fired into the water behind them, getting the creatures attention a little. The meat shot forward and to the Junk grabbed it and yanked. "Hard to port! Hakari, drop the port anchor and pull it back up right away!"

The ship pulled hard on the chain, tearing some of the hull, as it spun around. Just as they got away from the trail of blood, the moan returned again. And it surfaced. The head of a serpentine dragon rose from the surface for a moment before sinking again. It followed the trail, leading right to the Evening Star. "Yugito, I need you to do it again, harder! If you don't then we won't make it out of here!" More monsters could be heard coming. Yugito nodded and started doing it even faster. The main mast groaned as it strained to pulled the ship along but it held together. Behind them, cannon fire was heard as the junk fought the creatures.

—oo000oo—

An exhausted group of ninja weighed anchor next to the lighthouse. Naruto set the gang plank and walked ashore. "Hello? Anyone here?"

"What are you yelling for," the old doctor said as he came out of the house, "I'm not deaf."

"Sorry, sir, bad day," Naruto said. "Have you seen a ship called the Thousand Sunny fly by here?"

"No," he told them. "Should I have?"

"Yes and no," Naruto told him. "Where is Laboon?"

"You know of him?"

"Yeah, my uncle told me all about the adventures of the Straw hat pirates until Water Seven. I just want to tell him something."

"Hmm." After a moment, he nodded. He went to the shore and gave a shrill whistle. A moment later, the whale appeared. "Laboon, you have someone wanting to see you."

"Wow, you are huge," Naruto said. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! And I just came from your friend, Luffy!" The whale actually looked like he would cry. "You have to see him when he comes by! They are all proud warriors now! We kind of lost them after a battle at the base of Reverse Mountain. But this is the first stop on the Grand Line so he will come here looking for us! And even better... He brought an even older friend of your's! Brook! The friend that left here sixty years ago with a huge afro!"

The whale and Crocus both widened their eyes in surprise. "Are you serious," Crocus asked.

"Very," Naruto said. "Hey, come ashore," he called to his friends. "This it a resting point and the first place Luffy will look for us."

—oo000oo—

"...Does anyone else smell blood," Hakari asked.

"Yeah," Yugito said after a moment. "It smells like fish." She got up and looked around. "From that direction."

"I don't see anything," Naruto said.

"Here," Crocus said, giving him a telescope. "The top of the lighthouse gives you a better view."

Naruto ran up the wall to the top and looked. "...I don't believe it," Naruto yelled. "The Evening Star is coming this way! A little worst for wear but still moving at a deadly speed!" He jumped down. "We set sail now. Laboon, don't bother them, swim as deep as you can until they pass."

"They that dangerous," Crocus asked.

"I took them into the Calm Belt and left a trail of blood to them for the monsters," Naruto told him. "How could anyone fight those things off?"

"...That ship is too noticeable like that," Crocus told them. "Next chance you get, change sails and get a standard. Change the name as well."

Naruto nodded. "Don't fight them," he warned. "Don't be anything but compliant. They won't bother you as long as you tell them we already knew they were coming and we are hauling ass away from them. They won't have time to deal with you."

Crocus smiled. "Thanks for the concern son. But I have a better place than ashore to hide."

Naruto smacked his forehead. "Of course, inside Laboon. Take care, the both of you." They climbed back up the plank and pulled up the anchors and dropped the sails. Not what they wanted to do but they needed to leave. The Thousand Sunny could help them against it if they could catch up. But he refused to risk his friends with a head on confrontation against that ship.

—oo000oo—

Captain Heero looked at the four ninja aboard his ship. His crew was one of the strongest in the Wind Country but they were no match for the trap they were lead into. But those four, especially the one with the dark eyes and tattoo, killed all those things.

"...If you four ever want to quit being ninja, you are more than welcome on this ship," he said. "Lads," he shouted to the crew, "get all the speed we can from the Star! We are going to catch that ship and show them who is boss!"

"Delay that order," Baki said, after an eagle landed on his arm. "It is the Konoha ninja. We follow them for now and move in for the kill later."

Heero gave the new orders to follow out of line of sight. "But I thought they were aboard the caravel?"

"...They were caught aboard the ship when they were attacked. The 'Thousand Sunny' fired its primary weapon and was launched onto the side of the mountain. It will take them time to return to sea."

"Good," Heero said. "With that thing, I don't doubt who would win in the end if it was just ship to ship."

"...The captain of that ship," Gaara said. "Who was it?"

"...A blond haired boy," Baki told him. The hawk squawked a few time before flying off. "He heard him say his name was Uzumaki Naruto."

Gaara did nothing but nod. "The grandson of the Hokage," Temari said after a moment. "A sharp mind he has. I almost feel sorry that we will have to kill him."

"Jiriaya is still on the Thousand Sunny," Baki told everyone. "Our chances of success in our mission is almost assured without him aboard."

Heero shook his head. One thing he had learned in his life at sea, things rarely turned out as you expected.

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes. My favorite chapter to write to date. It took me a bit to find the right ship. But when I read about the Brigantine, I knew it was the right ship. I had to look a while but I narrowed it to the sloop-of-war and the schooner. But while I was looking up these Caribbean pirate ships, I came across an article that also spoke of the Brigantine. That it was a fast vessel with a decent size arsenal. Fully crewed, it could hold a hundred men with still twice the hold space of the regular sloop. But it's size and armor made it the choice for combat and battles instead of hit and run like the schooners and smaller sloop was for. I knew this was the one when I read it. I think it looks sleek enough to fit a ninja. Make the sails sky blue and you would never see it.

This promises to be a gloriest mess, doesn't it? And, by the way, I do plan to have the Zanbatou and/or the Fuka-hone clash with the Samehada. But you will have to wait. How did you like that escape I did? I think it was good. I mean, pitting the whole Calm Belt against a single ship would have worked against any other opponent. But I can't kill Gaara! He hadn't even had a line yet until the end.


	12. Chapter 12

Inari was holding the sword of the man that held his mother. It was heavy to him when he knew that such a blade wasn't supposed to be. It was a katana and a decent one as well. Instead of the normal wave pattern, what looked like fire moved along the blade, separating the edge from the spine.

"Inari, you have been looking at that blade ever since they left. Why?"

"Mom, dad said I should protect what is precious to me with my own two arms. It took you almost being killed for me to finally act. And when I did, it wasn't good enough."

Tsunami sighed. "Honey, it doesn't matter that you were not good enough. It only mattered that you acted. It is more than most people in our village can say."

Inari looked at his mother with tears in his eyes. "But it wasn't enough. If not for Hakari-san, we..."

Tsunami took the sword from his hand and returned it to its sheath. She then hugged him. "You don't know that."

Inari squeezed her as hard as he could. "I want to protect you with these arms, mommy. Just like Dad would have. Just like they protected Grandpa. From going hungry again to anyone else that wants to hurt you... A man has moved into town. He is making a dojo to train people the sword dances of Kassin-Ryu, the Sword that Protects. I want to learn it."

"...Honey, that is not an easy life. It will be very hard to do all those things. Maybe you should choose one or the other. I know your father would be very proud if you became a fisherman."

Inari nodded. "I do to. But I know he would agree with me that this is the right decision."

"...Alright. After all, you are a man now," she consented. "But you have to do both once you start down this path." She pointed to the symbol on the blade just above the hilt. It was a heron wading in water. "That man obviously stole this blade. This means the owner is a sword master. That he has fought all that would contest him against being proclaimed this title."

"How do you know, mom?"

"...Your blood father was one. I was so surprised when I saw you keep this sword. I knew this was going to happen as well."

Inari looked at it then at the picture of his father. "Kaiza was my father, mom. I will become the best swordsman _and_ seaman ever to sail the waters. Just you wait!"

—oo000oo—

Haku looked out across the water. The mist created by Reverse Mountain had long since receded so they could see everything clearly now. He was up in the crow's nest looking through the telescope Crocus gave them but didn't see anything. "Looks like we lost them," Haku called down.

"I don't like it," Zabuza stated. "We lost them way too easy."

Anko nodded at that. "It does seem awful convenient." There was a snake slithering between her hands. "Which means they are following us through a third party." She laid the snake on the deck and it went on a search and eat mission for anything small that could hide from them.

"...Hakari, can you go in the water and make sure nothing is following us," Naruto asked.

"Yeah." She picked up her spear and jumped off the side.

Sasuke was in the shade more broody than usual. Something he found out the hard way was that the water reflected the light so a person that had a pale complexion would be in hell. He was currently nursing a sunburn on every part of his body that wasn't covered in someway. "I blame you for this, Naruto."

"Not my fault you didn't use Hakari's tanning concoction," Naruto countered. "She offered it for this reason. Be grateful Haku was able to keep you from being in complete hell." His skin had tanned along with the others thanks to the special kelp Hakari had brought on board. It left an odd feeling and Sasuke decided he would be fine without it. "Be grateful that there was Alvera plants in the medical supplies."

Naruto had changed to just shorts as he figured it was better to get this done with now. Most people followed his example except, no surprise with the first one, Sasuke, Hakari because she didn't need to, and Hinata. "Hinata, if you don't come out, you will end up like Sasuke," Yugito said through the door. She and Anko were wearing swimsuits made from clean clothes that were left aboard. Hinata was as well but she seemed to have found it too embarrassing.

"N, NO! I can't, I won't!"

Yugito was about to try again when Naruto stopped her. "I got it. Hinata-chan, fan you come out now?"

"N, Naruto-kun! S, Sorry but I can't."

"That is too bad," Naruto replied. "Because you see, I need in my room. Now. And while I don't want to resort to it, I do have the key, and I'm willing to use it to get in." He grinned as he gave a wink to Yugito. "So what will it be? Fold or call?"

"...Pl, Please g, give me a m, moment." There was shuffling on the other side of the door as it was unlocked. Hinata opened it and walked out. "Ano..." The first thing she saw was the near naked Naruto. The next thing was the back of her eyelids. She had fainted, her face a very deep red but a happy smile on her face.

Naruto was also blushing while Yugito was gaping at her. "I thought she was only thirteen," she yelled at Naruto.

He nodded, "A few months younger than me actually. Amazing the things you can hide under a coat." He stepped over Hinata into the captain quarters and got the key. He tucked it into his headband. "So I don't forget it next time. We better get her up on deck." He bent down and picked her up bridle style.

After Naruto walked by her, Yugito looked down at her chest. She was exactly where a fifteen year old should be at. And Hinata was right there with her. "...But I'm older and..."

—oo000oo—

"Nothing is following us," Hakari reported after climbing back aboard. "But I think we should turn from our heading."

"Why," Naruto asked.

"We are about to enter a hunters territory. A big one too from the claw marks in some bones I saw." What sounded like a cat mewing came from all around them as a cat headed fish rose in the water ahead of them. "It's a giant catfish!"

Zabuza corrected her as he pointed the Zanbatou at it. "It's dinner!" He ran at it, making the catfish begin to sweat bullets at his proclamation. Then he was just gone. The catfish looked around but didn't see him. Then it looked up and...saw the Zanbatou coming down.

—oo000oo—

"This is a bit tougher than normal fish," Haku said. "Almost like a roast beef in fact."

Naruto tore into the meat that was still on the bone it was cooked on. "So, how are they following us," he asked before taking another bite.

"I don't know," Anko said with a sigh. "But my guess is something that flies. If it weren't for all these damn seagull, I could say which." She picked up a bone with nothing left on it and threw it at a couple of begging seagulls. "Will you shut up! You're rats with wings! By the way, thank you for cooking Hakari. I know I can't."

"Ano...I'm o, okay but y, you are f, far m, more skilled," Hinata said.

Yugito was, like Naruto, eating enough for ten. "It can eat it but never found anyone that would teach me to cook it."

"I kind of miss ramen but this makes up for it." After swallowing, he stood back up and returned to the wheel. After checking the Log Pose, he turn the wheel some to starboard. He was humming a tune as he checked it again. "...And really bad eggs. Drink up me hearties, yo ho."

Sasuke shook his head, "He's gone off into his own little world again. As happy as a clam about this whole thing. We are stuck in the middle of _two _oceans, unable to get back home by just sailing north because the world's sea monsters lie between us and it, unable to turn back because we are being chased by Suna, can't go back the way we came anyway, and he is ecstatic that he is finally at sea, _captain_ of his own ship."

"I hate to tell you this, Sasuke," Yugito said, swallowing. "But he is captain of this ship, at least until we get back with Luffy and Jiriaya. Do you know anything about navigating?" Sasuke scowled his no. "Do you know how to best outrun another ship with this one?" He just glared at his food before taking another bite. "Do you know anything about this ship?" Sasuke looked like he was going to explode. "Naruto-kun, knows how to use the Log Pose, how to catch even the faintest wind, and can recite every aspect about this ship and the Evening Star, the ship that was chasing us, from memory, so long as they have not been modified. And..."

"Alright, I get it!" Sasuke began eating like Naruto and Yugito did. He quickly found out it was not a good idea. "...Those two are not human to eat this much," he groaned.

"Human, whats that," Naruto asked as a joke.

"Nah, tried it once and found it too boring," Yugito told him.

"...I smell sand," Hakari said, her nose turned to the wind.

"Must be Whiskey Peak," Naruto said. "It is the first island along the Grand Line. When we get there, make sure to mention we are not pirates." He head snapped up and glared at the fake Straw Hat Jolly Roger. "Burn it."

He turned back to everyone still eating. "Gather up all journals, books, maps, everything that could lead people to believe we are pirates and stack them neatly in the captain quarters. Once that is done, put the weapons there as well. Every single one we are not carrying. I don't care how odd it looks, put it there. It is now the armory until we can find a proper place for them." None of them moved. "Please do what I asked."

Hakari sighed. She stood back up. "You heard the man! Get your asses in gear!" She grabbed Sasuke and threw him down the stairs. "Do I have to make myself anymore clear!?" Even Anko looked shocked at her sudden shift in mood. They all scrabbled about to carry out the orders. Hakari then turned to Naruto. "We need to talk."

He looked nervous at that. "About what?"

"About that! You just fought for your life not a day ago, as strong as oak! But now!? You can't even get your crew to follow your orders! How the hell are you going to keep us alive to get them back to Konoha and me to my home!?"

"But I..."

"Naruto, listen to yourself! Grow a spine and _take_ command, not pretend to be in command!" She growled at how nervous he looked.

"From now on, I am the First Mate," she yelled to everyone gathered. "When I give you an order, you sure as hell better follow that order!" Zabuza scoffed. "And I don't give whale shit that you are Jonin or not! It is either my way or the short walk and the wet stop!" To emphasize this, she kicked a plank out over the side. It stopped after eight feet. "There is no room for anyone that will not follow orders! Nor the time to argue about who is in charge! Naruto knows how to survive out here, we do not, so there is no one else! When he gives an order, I enforce that order! Now get moving!"

Naruto wanted to hang his head in shame. He was scolded like a child that knew what to do but wouldn't. Right in front of the people he was supposed to be leading. '...I'm not ready for this,' he realized. 'I'm not playing pirate anymore, I literally am the leader of this ship. Maybe while on land, Anko and Zabuza outrank me but here, I am the only one that knows.' He was sweating bullets now that this realization finally hit him.

"Hinata-chan!" She came up to him, nervous that he was nervous. "Take the helm, keep us sailing in that direction," he pointed the same way the log pose was. "Hakari, I want to speak with you a moment." He went inside the captain's quarters and told Haku to get out. Hakari came in and shut the door behind her. "...Take it," he whispered.

"What," she asked. "I did not hear you correctly. Because you did not say that."

"Take it! I can't handle this! I'm only twelve! This isn't a small sail boat on a large lake! This is a brigantine on the ocean! I, I can tell you what to do! You can handle the stress, I can't!"

Hakari scowled with discuss at Naruto. She then punched him in the stomach. "Get up," she said to his crouching form. "Get up!" She kicked him and lifted him by his collar! "It isn't what you thought is was? So you are just going to quit!? I told you to grow a back bone! Not lose what little you had! What the hell is wrong with you! You were laughing at a giant snake that tried to eat you while running on top of water even though you can't swim! And you can't lead this ship!?"

He just looked away, something was really wrong with him. Hakari kneed him in the gut and let him drop. "You are pathetic. It doesn't take age or experience to lead. It takes the the will to act. Something I thought you had in spades. There will be moments where you won't be able to tell me what we have to do to survive. Because they have to be done right then... You have better tell me right now what are you going to do. Quit, scared like a little child, lower than even Inari was, or stand tall like the ninja you _claimed_ to be." He just stayed there. "Give me the key and get out of this room."

Naruto slowly stood up and took hie head band off to get it. He gave it too her and started for the door. "Hold it, Uzumaki." She took his headband. "This is for men, not children. Get to the sleeping quarters and stay there. We have no use for worthless children on this ship. You can stay on Whiskey Island when we set sail again. Luffy can pick you up."

"...Aye, aye captain." He left the room and went below deck.

Hakari stepped out, tying the headband around her arm. She glared at everyone that was looking at her. "Get back to work." It was no louder than her last words to Naruto. But it carried all the hate and discuss. She looked at the sun and saw it would be setting soon.

—oo000oo—

Naruto tried to swim back to the surface. But he kept going down. "HELP!" He saw the Ebon Hawk just right there the surface and the figures of Hinata and Yugito swimming, trying to reach him. But he was sinking too fast.

"Mold your chakra, damn you!" Hakari's voice yelled from everywhere. "You were taught how!"

He grabbed his chakra like it was a rope line back to the deck and tried to make it do as he had done before. But he was terrified. There was no bottom beneath him! No one there to pull him back up should he not be able to do it. He was going to die and it was from an enemy he couldn't hurt!

He got the webbing in his hand but it let most of the water pass through it. He couldn't even feel the chakra from his feet pushing against the water! "Tell me, Uzumaki Naruto. Are you afraid of death?" A tentacles grabbed his waist and pulled him down.

"NO!"

—oo000oo—

Naruto bolted forward in his hammock, "NO!"

But he wasn't under water. He was back on the Ebon Hawk. Hinata and Yugito had saved him. And he wasn't so scared he couldn't mold chakra anymore. It was only a nightmare. Trying to steady his breathing, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. But it still covered the rest of his body.

Naruto jumped off the hammock and walked down the stairs to the deeper holds. He wasn't afraid of the water, he was terrified of it. He could fight a person, maybe even an army. But he could not fight something that big, that powerful. He could only run from it. To the farthest he could get. He was below the waters surface now. But it was a good ship and didn't leak. Here, he would have to climb three decks to get to where he could fall again.

He sat on a spare cannon and hung his head in shame. He was pathetic.

—oo000oo—

The Ebon Hawk pulled into port, obviously at the hands off people that did not know what to do. The anchor weighed, the crew stepped off the ship. Followed by Naruto. He was again wearing his normal clothing, his tan complete.

"Welcome to Whiskey Island," the new mayor shouted. Just like when they worked for Baroque Works, they still had the same line. "Where we make all newcomers to the Grand Line feel like they never want to leave!" He was an average looking guy, spiky yellow hair and bright blue eyes. He might have been related to Naruto if he had a family. "It is our...pride...and joy. Talk about a downer," he said, looking at Naruto. "Could anything be more depressing than him?"

"Ignore him," Hakari said. "We have a few jobs we need done to our ship if you can spare the men to do it."

"Sure, anything for pirates," the mayor said, his smile back.

Hakari looked at Naruto. "Yeah, Pirates." She sighed. "This ship wasn't ours, it belong to a crew that attacked our. While we were looking it over, we were attacked. Forced to stay on the ship, we got separated from our captain and crew and are being chased."

'I told them to make sure we were known as something else but pirates', Naruto thought as he walked off. Luckily, he would be safe as there were plenty of places to hide here. Once Luffy and uncle pulled in, he could stay with them until this nightmare was over.

—oo000oo—

"What sort of jobs," the mayor asked.

"The name needs changed and we need sky blue sails put up," Hakari told him.

The captain nodded. "...The figure head has been destroyed along with a good portion of the bow. Our village has some of the best ship wrights. They will fix it in no time. Please, in the mean time, stay as our guest and new friends." They nodded and they followed the crowd to

"By the way," the Mayor asked. "What did you want the name to be?"

"Ano..." Hinata said. "How about..." She whispered it into his ear.

"Young lady, it is a fine name!" The crew left, leaving several men and and the Mayor.

"Zant," the ship wright said, "we will actually do it?"

"Yes," the man now revealed to be Zant said. "This bunch is too cautious, I can see it in their steps. Warriors, not sailors yet."

"I don't recognize them from the wanted posters," another said.

"Any pirate worth calling themselves that are wanted another told him. We simply need to find where."

"Sir," someone called, running up to them. "The blond, the one that already looked beaten, he is missing!"

"What?"

"He didn't head into town when he left and the woman set to follow him was knocked out."

"...Check the ship," Zant said. "Make sure he just didn't double back to hide from us. No one gets away from the Dreadnought Bounty Hunters." The captain saluted and ran off. "So he knew we were not what we appeared... But why did he not tell his crew?"

"Isn't it obvious," one asked. "They broke his spirit. You could see it in his eyes. They were full of life until recently. Now, shame and sorrow took its place."

"...Find him," Zant ordered.

—oo000oo—

The door opened and Hinata jumped up. But it was just someone that came in to ward away the night chill with a mug of ale. Naruto had been missing for two days now. As she sat back down, Hakari said, "Stop waisting you time. He isn't coming here. He couldn't even face something as simple as..." Hinata slapped her. "That was a mistake. One that I will let slide this once. Do it again and I will bring this building down on your head."

"Never speak of Naruto-kun like that again," Hinata said with a voice that seethed with anger.

"What did you say to my student,"Anko demanded. "Nothing has ever gotten him down like this. To give up his headband to you, that headband in particular, is not something he would do willingly."

"Something special about this piece of garbage from that garbage?" Hinata went to slap her. But Sasuke punched her in the jaw first.

"Hinata warned you once. That love tap was your second. A third time and we will have a scrap on our hands, friendship be damned."

"I see no error in calling a piece of shit a piece of shit," Hakari said, a slight smile on her face. These idiots had been going against her scales ever since she took command. They needed to learn their place. She made a hammer strike, breaking the table they were all sitting at.

Haku and Zabuza jumped back out of the way. As Haku pulled several shenbons out to help his friends, Zabuza stopped him. "Don't."

"But you heard what she said about Naruto! They are going to kill her for it!"

"Maybe, or she might surprise them and whip their asses. Or perhaps, we let them work off the tension they have about Naruto being gone for so long without a word and we will interfere when they have worked it off."

Haku nodded and turned back to the fight that spilled out through a wall. Hakari had her stiletto in one hand and sai in the other. "...Good choice, staying out of it," Hakari said to them. "And I'm sure, if Yugito was here, she would agree with me as well. Despite her sad crush on that loser." Her eyes were becoming bloodshot as she worked herself into a rage. "Time for you three to learn that I am in charge now. The idiot couldn't handle so I will."

Sasuke's hands flashed through a set of hand signs on stopped on tiger. "Fireball no Jutsu!" He shot the ball of fire at Hakari who jumped through it. She came out steaming but little worst for wear.

"Snake Bind no jutsu," Anko yelled. She slammed her hands to the ground and snakes came out of it around Hakari and wrapped around her. They started to constrict and Hakari let out a yell of pain. She pushed against them and slowing, they were losing their grip.

"Eight Trigrams of Divination: Sixty Four Palms," Hinata cried out, her Byakugan activated. She hit Hakari so hard that she flew into a wall and brought it down. "Never insult Naruto-kun in front of me."

A large piece of the wall was picked up and Hakari glared at them, fully in the blood lust now. She threw it at them, and ran in. Sasuke was clipped by it and it felt like his arm was torn off. Anko tried to grab here again with her snakes and Hakari simply tore it apart. While Anko was crippled with the pain, she turned on Hinata. Her fangs gnashed as she picked her up by her hair and brought her other arm back. It looked like she was going to punch Hinata until she turned her fin outward and put at an angle that would meet her throat. She pushed her arm forward.

Her fist met an ice mirror and sent cracked all the way through it. But her attacked was stopped. She turned to this new enemy and snarled. It was Haku and Zabuza. "You are going to far, girl," Zabuza warned. He brandished the Zanbatou. "Put her down and calmed down." Hakari growled, dropped Hinata, and lunged at them. She was jerked to a halt though. She didn't even notice the mirror went around her arm. As she turned back to the two, she saw Zabuza ready to take her head off.

As the three got back up, Haku glared at all of them. "You are acting like a bunch of rabid dogs! Or have you forgotten that we are lost out here! Maybe we am the only one thinking clearly right now! So I will spell it out for you! We are being followed by people that want to kill us! The one person among us that truly knows what he is doing has decided to wait here for rescue! And without the Log Pose he still has on his wrist, we cant figure out where to go anyway! Or have you forgotten that!?"

He turned to Hinata, Sasuke, and Anko. "He is your friend and you let him walk away! You let him face a nightmare that scared him so much, he screamed as he woke up! And none of you so much as stirred! She was mad and didn't care! He was gone before I could get over to him! What is your excuse!?"

They all looked away. He had a point. "Nicely done, Haku," Zabuza said, returning th Zanbatou to his back.

The bartender noted each ability and that the sword had a wading heron just above the handle.

—oo000oo—

Naruto, holding the head of one of the bounty hunters, ran and jumped. He spun, kicking the head of the other two as he did. As he came around, he brought his knee to his pivot man's head, knocking him out. With all three of them on the ground, Naruto started running again. He reached the cacti and took out two kunai. Stabbing them into the giant plan, he climbed up it between the giant needles.

When he reached the top, he looked out across the island. They have been here for too long. Something didn't sit right with him. "Naruto." He nearly jumped out of his skin. Spinning around, he saw Yugito.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he tried to relax and gave her a smile. "Yugito-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Don't Yugito-chan me. Why did you just leave?"

"I'd rather not talked about it. Have they done anything to you guys?"

"No," she said slowly. "They threw us a party but we were pretty reserved at it. Why do you ask."

"The reason I said to tell them we were _not_ pirates is because they are bounty hunters. I was wondering if they still were but considering they are attacking me, I believe they still are. But they have been holding back, and I don't know why." He took his telescope from his pouch and began looking around. "I see the Suna ship. They are just waiting out there." He looked around the other way. "But nothing... Huh?"

"What?"

"I saw just the tip of a mast on the other side of that cactus. So small, I'm not sure that is in fact what it is. At least, until I saw the mayor heading to it." He collapsed the telescope and put it back. "We need to go find out what they are up to."

—oo000oo—

"...Are you sure," the man with silver hair and shoulder pads said to Zant.

"We have been unable to test it wit the Sea Stone be we are almost certain that most of them ate the Devil Fruit," Zant said to him. "One has the ability to control fire. Another, ice. The girl has these special eyes that see all around her. The woman controls snakes. The swordsman is a sword master. While the other two I do not know. But the missing girl reminds me too much of a cat to be a coincidence. And they are weak from their fight with each other just an hour ago."

"...Even if they have not eaten the Devil Fruit, I can use them," he said with a smile. "I knew financing your group was a good idea."

"For which we are grateful. Baroque Works were fools to give up this island. With all the bounties that come through, even with the Cursed going to you, the money from the rest and from you more than make up for it, Mr. Jones, sir."

Naruto and Yugito had henge into a snake and lizard to get closure to listen. Naruto shivered for a moment. Jones was the voice that demanded that they surrender and also the voice from the nightmare. He spun around and left. He knew now why they had waited. When they were out of sight and hearing of the group, the returned to normal. "We have to go warn them," Yugito said. Naruto nodded and started running to town. Behind them, a flare shot into the air. Not thirty seconds later, the sounds of fighting reached them.

"Better hurry," Naruto yelled. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Twelve clones appeared. "Go to the Ebon Hawk and prep her to sail!" They ran their separate ways.

—oo000oo—

"See now why Naruto told us to mention we weren't pirates," Anko yelled at Hakari. "It's an island of bounty hunters!"

"How was I supposed to know!?"

"By asking him why," Sasuke yelled, blocking a sword with his kunai and delivering a kick to the gut to his attacker. "If you were going to be _Capitan_, forget it!"

"You have a better idea!? I told Naruto to stay behind and wait for Luffy!"

"WHAT!?" That came from Hinata. "The reason he isn't here is you!? But you're like a sister to him!"

"Can we talk about this later," Zabuza demanded. He cut down another person that came against him. Looking around, he saw the only person challenging him now was one with a weapon made of an iron tube and wood over three feet long. "What are you packing?"

"Packing? Packing you." He raise it to his shoulder and squeezed the trigger. Zabuza was pushed backwards a little while his blood shot several feet back. He raised a hand to his chest and took it away. Blood was coming from a small hole. On his shoulder, it was a very large hole and his shoulder blade was part of it. He felt very cold.

The man flipped the level on the bottom of his weapon and aimed at Hinata. "BASTARD!" He looked up in time to see the boy with the coat jumped from the top of a building and drive two kunai into his chest.

Naruto grabbed his weapon as he ran to them. "Haku! Zabuza has been hit!"

He nodded before the whole city started to freeze. Soon, it was so cold that those used to the desert heat of this island couldn't move. "Let me see him," Haku said. He looked at the wound in disbelief. Placing a hand over it, ice covered it, stopping blood flow from it. "We need to get him back to the ship. What caused this?"

"This did," Naruto said. "Yugito-chan, did you get everything?!"

"Right here," She said, holding up a scroll. "All their medical supplies, several of those odd weapons and the ammo for them, and fresh water. I also got the light wine you said to get."

"Good, we head out now! Someone named Jones is here after Devil Fruit eaters and they believe we are." He lifted Zabuza up and started carrying him to the Hawk. "Unless you would rather stay and find out why of course!"

They looked at each other for a moment and ran after him.

—oo000oo—

They were at the docks and only a hundred feet from the boarding plank. "Evening," Zant said, swinging a chain with a weight and a kama at the ends. He had on this black, flat low top, stiff wide brim hat. "We are being paid a good price for each of you."

"I don't suppose it is too late to mention we are not pirates but rather soldiers from a country in the West Blue, is it," Naruto asked.

"Far too late," Zant told him. "This weapon is made of Sea Stone. Not only is it impossible to break, it renders those that ate the Devil Fruit powerless." Naruto swallowed.

"Good thing no one here has eaten a Devil Fruit then," Sasuke stated.

"How do you explain those abilities then," Zant asked.

"They are Bloodline Traits," Yugito told him, "and ninjutsu. If you had trained for it like we had, you could have done it."

He grinned. "You are bad liars." He threw the weight and caught Sasuke's leg. "Like to see you use that fire ability now."

"Alright." Sasuke did the hand signs again. "Fireball no Jutsu!" Zant had the dumbest look on his face before he jumped to the side.

"Think he believes us now," Haku asked. "Hinata, help Naruto take Zabuza-sama up to the medical ward."

"Al, alright." She grabbed his feet and they took him up.

"I will handle him," Haku said. Ice surrounded Zant in a dome. And Haku stepped into it. "Ice Prison no Jutsu." For several minutes, the man was stabbed in the most painful ways. Finally, Haku decided to end it. "No one hurts Zabuza-sama and gets away with it."

There was the sound of gun fire and Haku fell. "Damn it," Naruto yelled, jumping back over the side. He stepped Haku and started the Oto Oto Wail as he reached down for him. His hand brushed the chain and it stopped for that moment. And Haku noticed.

"I'm fine, it just hit my arm," Haku said, standing up. "But...you ate a Devil Fruit, didn't you?"

Naruto didn't look at him. "Get aboard." He kept the wail up until one of his clones dispelled, letting him know they were ready. Naruto turned to leave when he saw notes inside the hat. He grabbed it and ran aboard. "Weigh anchor! Yugito, Hinata, drop all sails! Get us out of here!"

—oo000oo—

Naruto was tying the bandage around Haku's arm. "Why didn't you tell us, Naruto?"

"...Because I can us my chakra to swim. I am just terrified of it." He finished the gauze. "Every other time, Rin-chan was always there to catch me if I fell. But when I fell overboard...there was no one and no bottom. I couldn't even mold my chakra right. Can you imagine what it is like to have the strength to do anything else but that?"

"So that is why you gave up so easily," Haku said, referring to Hakari. "You are still afraid, aren't you?"

Naruto stopped what he was doing for a moment. "More than you can imagine."

"...Naruto, you are an orphan right?"

"Yes."

"So is Hakari and I." Holding the unfinished gauze, he got up from the chair and stepped to the door. "Hakari, get in here." He sat back down and let Naruto finish. "Tell her what you told me."

Naruto glared at him. "Why should I?"

"Because we both were worried. And if you are to afraid to tell your friends, then you will have to trust us."

"What are you two talking about?"

"You saw how he handled the attack," Haku said. "He is a natural leader. But something is holding him back and I found out what. It isn't just that he can't swim, he is scared of being _in_ the ocean, not on it. Because he ate a Devil Fruit. AH!" Naruto had finished the knot, making sure it was very tight.

"That was between us, Haku."

"And why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I will get over it," Naruto yelled. "...I won't be powerless like that again."

She sighed, slapped her hands to her fore head and ran them through her hair in exasperation. "Naruto, you are a baka." She sliced the palm of her right hand with a fin and held it out. "Here, we will make a pact. As long as we are together, we will help each other where we are not good enough. Naruto, you will never have to be afraid of the water again because I will be there to bring you back to the surface."

Haku nodded and cut his palm. "Hakari, if you ever lose yourself to your blood lust, I will stop you from hurting our friends." He placed his hand of Hakari's and they looked at Naruto.

"...Haku, you will never have to fear losing your precious person again. Because I will guard him." He cut his palm and placed it over theirs. "Do you two really mean those things?"

"Of course," Hakari said. "A fishman is nothing without their pride. Now, I believe this is your's." She took his headband from her arm and held it out to him. "Take the helm, captain."

"But..."

"I know next to nothing about sailing a ship. I may know the Grand Line some but that isn't enough. You know it better than me. So put that thing on and get up there and take command like you did on that island."

Naruto looked at it for a moment and nodded. "That reminds me..." He grabbed the hat and took the papers out. "Hmm... Worthless... Finances, might be of some use. ...AH HA! A chart of this section of the Grand Line!" He looked to Haku. "Medical officer, I want you to go through this paper work to determine if there is anything to gleam from it. After fixing Zabuza, of course." He turned to Hakari. "First Mate, I will see you on the bridge." He was about to leave but he looked at the hat for a moment. He tied the headband around it and put it on. "I thought this would feel pretty nice under it."

—oo000oo—

He came to the deck and checked the log pose. "I'll take the wheel, Anko."

"I have it," she said to him.

"Anko-sensei, I will follow your orders while we are on land. But but we agreed while on this ship, I lead." His voice was calm but it held a determination in it.

She grinned at him. "You couldn't even make Hakari accept you as captain. What makes you think I will now?"

"...MOVE ASIDE, ANKO!" She was knocked on her ass. "Now let me make one thing clear! I give the orders on this ship! And I expect them to be followed! There are going to be times when I say something to be done and it needs to be done now! Because if you argue about it, we might die for it! Does this make sense to all of you!?" Yugito grinned and nodded. He got the same reply from the others. "Good!"

A Naruto clone came up to Anko and helped her up. "I'm sorry but I needed to make my point clear. Boss," the clone said to Naruto, "the new ship name. The Morning's Song. And check out the figure head." The clone took it and Naruto went to see it. It was of a woman with white hair and black skin. On her back were two white wings. She was wearing a blue dress and on her forehead was a newly carved and painted Konoha headband.

"...Sasuke, hoist the colors. By the time we reach the next island, they will think we are pirates anyway."

"But...we don't have a flag." Naruto grinned and took a tri-folded flag from his coat. Sasuke let it loose and looked at it. "You actually had this on you?" He shook his head as he tied it to the line. He pulled it up and the wind caught it, revealing a laughing Jolly Roger with a Leaf headband and a music note on each side.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I did have to throw that part from the end of Pirates of the Caribbean in. Well, there you have it, why Naruto didn't just use his chakra to swim back to the surface. Everyone has that fear they have. That is his.

Yeah, I did decide the have the guy be Davy Jones. I couldn't think of a good enough name for him. What do you think of this chapter? And I know some of you think I am just going to retell the One Piece story with Naruto and the others instead of Luffy and the Straw Hats. I'm not. That is the first island, I believe. As for the bounty hunters, well, why mess with something that works? I do plan to send Naruto on a different path than Luffy took. Starting with him not going to Little Garden.

As always, any questions you may have, ask and I will explain the reasoning behind them.


	13. Chapter 13

Gaara stood a top the crow's nest, slightly smiling. Since he didn't sleep, he volunteered to take the night watch. And up here, he could feel ever rock the ship made. _**'KIT, I'M BEGGING YOU! GO BACK DOWN TO THE HOLD! I'M GETTING SEA SICK IN HERE! YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW NASTY IT IS IN THIS CAGE!'**_ Gaara just continued to hum a small tune he now remembered Temari sang him when he was younger.

But then he remembered the one the sailors were singing while drinking earlier that night. Now he didn't have a singing voice. But he had to do something while he was up all night. And as fun as it was to torture Shukaku, he wanted something to actually do.

"What shall we do with a drunken sailor? What shall we do with a drunken sailor? What shall we do with a drunken sailor early in the morning? Way-hey and up she rises! Heave-ho and up she rises! Hooray and up she rises early in the morning!

"Hang him from the yard arm till he dangles. Hang him from the yard arm till he dangles. Hang him from the yard arm till he dangles early in the morning.

"Shave his belly with a rusty razor. Shave his belly with a rusty razor. Shave his belly with a rusty razor early in the morning.

"Put him in bed with the captain's daughter. Put him in bed with the captain's daughter. Put him in bed with the captain's daughter early in the morning.

"You haven't seen the captain's daughter. You haven't seen the captain's daughter. You haven't seen the captain's daughter early in the morning."

There was a rush of wind and Temari was beside him along with Kankuro. "Yo, Gaara... You seem to be in a good mood," Kankuro stated. "...You are never in a good mood."

"Water," Gaara told them. Temari went to offer him her canteen. "No, the water." They looked out across it. "It is so calm and peaceful. Even with the extreme weather. I like it out here. And..." He gave them a real smile like he hadn't done since he was a child. "Shukaku doesn't like it. He is seasick and has lost most of his grip on me. I can even tune him out. Not that I want to. It is funny to hear him beg to go somewhere more motionless."

The two looked at each other amazed. "As in..." Temari said slowly, "you could go to sleep?"

"I don't know if it is that far," Gaara told her, his arms still crossed his chest. "But not to feel his sudden urges to attack something is nice to be without."

"...So I can have my brother back, eh," Kankuro asked.

Gaara looked at him confused. "You missed me?"

"We are your brother and sister," Temari told him.

Gaara turned back to the water. "You know, maybe I will take up Heero's offer. I like the quiet out here."

"...Okay, my brain is overloading," Kankuro said. "I'm...uh. I'm heading below deck... Don't catch a cold, Gaara." His brother nodded.

Temari watched him go. "I'm glad you like it out here. Who knows, maybe those Leaf will keep searching forever. Then we won't have to go home."

"I would like that," Gaara said. "No one here is afraid of me."

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked at the chart and the direction the log pose was pointing. It didn't point to north east to Little Garden, but south west to an island called Black Hills. He knew nothing about black hills beyond the little information on the chart. It was a Mediterranean climate island covered in trees. They were so thick that from a distance, the hills in the center were black.

"Mon Capitan," Sasuke said, "you look any harder at that map, you'll burn a hole through it."

"I don't know this island. The only good news is that it will not take a year for the log pose to calibrate to it and point to the next island if this is correct."

"So that is what is up," Yugito said. The sun had set and Naruto had them stop. As much as he wanted to continue on during the night, they had been going for a week now and they all needed rest. With the island close by, they had to be careful not to run aground on the surrounding reefs. "Haku, you have been compiling everything you can from those books, anything on 'Black Hills'?"

He opened his journal. "...Not really, other than that it is the preferred route. I believe there was also mention of something about music there but nothing else."

Naruto sighed. "Get some sleep. I'll start night watch. Zabuza, you are the second." He nodded before replacing his bandages he took off to eat.

—oo000oo—

"You know, you don't really use anything else other than the Oto Oto Wail," Zabuza stated. "You should know better than that. A ninja needs to use many, often."

"Why, am I becoming predictable," Naruto and Sasuke said at the same time.

"You, predictable? Never," Sasuke mocked as he sat down on the deck with a cup of wine. Naruto had made it clear that water only had one purpose out here. To cook with. Wine never went bad so long as it was kept cold and out of the light. The light wine Yugito got was greatly watered down to keep them from being dehydrated.

Naruto sighed. "I actually have a scroll on Sound and combat but with everything that is going on, I guess I forgot about it." He glared at Sasuke. "What are you doing up? I ordered everyone to get some rest."

"Mon Capitan, you need rest as well. Besides, I am just up here, enjoying a cup to drink while watching the stars. No clouds out here right now to watch. Shikamaru would be in hell."

"Yeah, he would," Naruto agreed. "Finish the cup and get to sleep. You will need your strength if we have to fight on that island as well." When finally Sasuke left, Naruto turned to Zabuza. "Speaking of regaining strength, how is your shoulder?"

"Better," Zabuza replied. "That trick Anko told Haku about using the hair of a virgin to replace lost flesh really did the trick." Naruto's hand went up to his left shoulder. His hair was short and spiky for the most part. But he had four tails behind his left ear with some small beads on them. He now only had three. "Thanks for the new shoulder," Zabuza said, a grin on his face.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto grumbled. Those were a lost tradition of Konoha he had found and he liked it. He was grateful that he could help Zabuza out but he still missed his bang. With a sigh, Naruto looked behind them. The Evening Star was there, moving when they moved, stopping when they stopped, just out of sight.

Looking up, he didn't see the animal that was watching them but he didn't expect to. No doubt, it was a nin animal. So it would be able to read their lips from a great distance, if it was a bird. "Zabuza, think it would help any to start adding bird to our diet?"

"I'm kind of tired of fish myself. Don't tell Hakari this but really, I would kill for one of those cheap meals you can buy from a store."

Naruto just laughed. "I know what you mean... Can you use Katon jutsu?" He held up a sealing scroll that was marked "Emergency Ramen".

Zabuza grinned, "You are one squared away ninja."

A little while later, the two were trying to slurp up there noodles as quietly as they could. "Nothing like the cheap goodness of ramen," Naruto stated. "A person can only take great home cook food for so long."

"Tell...me about," Zabuza stated. "You know, for a super brat, you are okay."

"And you two are annoying," Hakari stated, holding up a lantern. Both of them gave her a deer in the headlights look. "You should have said you were still hungry, we still got plenty of food. Too much really." The two nearly cried when she took their ramen and went to the galley.

—oo000oo—

"This is not what I was expecting," Naruto said as the Morning's Song pulled into port. There were dozens of ships there. From fishing boats to Marine battleships to Pirate schooners. As they tied the Song to the dock, Naruto went up to one of the dock workers. "Why are pirates and marines all here?"

"Shh, keep it down," the worker said. "Neither like but they put up with each other for the contest. But too many reminders and it goes bad."

"...What contest?"

"Ah, new to the Grand Line eh? Black Hills is host of a music concert every year. There are more eternal log poses to this island than anywhere else in the Grand Line. You can buy them pretty cheap even." He looked at their flag and the Fuka-hone. "You look like a music player. Interested in joining?"

"Ah, but then it is assured that no one else will win," Naruto said.

He laughed. "You say that now. But it isn't that easy. Only the finals are actually the part the audience watches. There are two stages before hand that test a person's knowledge about music to eliminate the tune deaf."

"Naruto-kun," Anko said, tapping her foot. "Get over here."

"Wait, I thought you were the captain," the worker said.

"I am. But we are on land now, aren't we." He turned and went over to her. "I found out why everyone is here. A tournament between musicians. Now..." He turned back to the worker. "How long should it take for the log pose to set?"

"Four days."

"There you have it, we are stuck here for two days. As apposed to a year the other way, I like it. Hmm, the chart was correct. Anyway, just one thing. Tension is high between the Pirates and Marines. So no causing trouble between them. That way, the Morning's Song will remain fine. Anko-sensei, it is now your show."

"...We wait the four days and leave. Like Naruto said, don't cause trouble where both parties are involved. And there is a person watching the ship at all times. Naruto, take the first watch. When the sun sets, Hinata will replace you. Sasuke at dawn. I will go at night fall. And so on with Zabuza, Haku, Yugito, and Hakari."

Everyone gave said, "Hai."

"As for the rest of us, we will look around for things that we need."

"Ano... Why not wait here for more than the four days. It took us a week to get here," Hinata asked.

"Because there is only a chance they came the same way," Naruto told her. And the farther along we get in the Grand Line, the less chance there is to meet them until it starts to join again. And remember, we still need to gather information on who is making these fake Devil Fruit and where he is."

"...Naruto, where will we join with them again," Yugito asked.

"A place called Water Seven." He took out the chart. "There is land passing through the equator ahead of us after several islands. But that might not be the only place. _If_ they head to Little Garden, they will have no choice but to use their eternal pose to go to this island." He tapped Alabasta. The dotted lines on the map showed that they could get to it following their current course. If they were lucky.

He rolled it back up and held it over a seal on his forearm. It disappeared from sight into it. It seemed to catch the attention of everyone there not use to seeing such a thing. "Now that is one interesting ability," a marine said as he walked up to them. He had blond hair, silver hair, and black eyes. His chin had some stubble on his chin and his most distinguishing feature is that he wore two iron plates over his knuckles. They extended to cover the back of his hand and his forearm had them as well.

"I recognize steps like those, you are all, for the most part, soldiers," the marine officer said.

"Good guess," Anko stated.

He grinned at her. "My, if only the marine under my command were as lovely as you are. But alas, they are not." He shook his head. "But... Admiral Hina is..." He had hearts in his eyes. He shook his head. "Lieutenant, I think you should see what this boy just did." He looked at a man that had a red and black striped beard. He came over to them, his steps more like dance moves.

"So, what have we here," the sunglasses wearing Lt. asked. "Pirates?"

"Hmm," came from Naruto. "We don't steal or attack people unprovoked so I don't think that fits, nor have we committed crimes. But we aren't Navy either..." He snapped his fingers. "A book I read describes the type of people we are. We live to be free, to sail the oceans. We are Outlaws. Bad term, I know but that is the only thing that fits." He pulled a book from his pouch, titled 'Outlaw Star'.

"I read that," the commander said. "Good book. Outlaws eh?" He looked at each of them, noticing the reoccurring theme, the headband. "So, which is the Captain of your ship and which is it?"

"While on land, Anko is in command," Zabuza stated offhand. "But at sea, the super brat is Captain." Naruto did a bow, sweeping his hat to the dock and straightened, replacing it and swiping his hand across the rim.

"Now isn't that an odd arrangement," the commander said. "I am Captain 'Dual Iron Arm' Fullbody. This is Lt. Jango, my First Mate and best friend."

"Yo," the man said.

Naruto grew wide eyed but smiled after a moment. Causing the other two to go wide eyed. They had seen a smile just like that on one other person, Monkey D. Luffy. "This is unexpected. Neither of you two are singers so you must be here to dance. Anko-chan, you and the others go on ahead and have fun. I will return to the Morning's Song."

Hakari pulled him aside for a moment. "Outlaws?"

"What should I have told them, the truth?" She nodded and let him go. Naruto turned back to the two. "Care to join me on board?"

—oo000oo—

"This symbol, what does it mean," Jango asked.

"That is the symbol of our home. Konoha, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. A village full of proud warriors and heroes. I actually wonder how they are doing now. But I have a lot to worry about here and now. Oh, I apologize, you want to see that trick again." He pulled back his coat sleeve, revealing the kanji for 'map'. He swiped his hand over it and the map appeared. "Everyone there can do it with the proper training. That is how we stay light in the water, by sealing everything aboard. And..."

"Request permission to come aboard," came the call from the dock.

Naruto went to the railing and looked over. "State your name and business."

"Master chief Koby and Helmeppo of the Maiden's Virtue, here at the request of Captain Fullbody."

"Koby!? You met the man that is going to be the next King of the Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy! Permission granted!"

As they stepped on the deck, Koby laughed a little. "You are a little back dated. Luffy _is_ king of the Pirates."

"NANI!?"

Helmeppo frowned a little. "No one can beat him and his crew. At least, not for long enough for it to matter. He got to the end and even discovered One Piece. Though he has never spent it."

"...Whoa..." Naruto fell back and sat on a barrel. "He found it? What else have the stories uncle told me missed?" He was just staring into space as the four gathered around him.

"So, what is you name," Jango asked.

"Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki being my clan name."

They nodded, though he didn't see, he was still staring off into the distance. There came the popping of knuckles from Fullbody... Naruto rolled backwards and pushed off the deck, avoiding the punch. "I welcome you aboard my ship, came bearing a flag of another land with no ill intentions, and you attack me."

"I want the full story," Fullbody said. "The last time I saw a smile like that was from the Pirate King himself. Now, tell us who you really are."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Six clones to each of them appeared. "Gentlemen, shall we show them what we learned these last few days?"

They pulled their guitars off their backs, some held Fuka-hone like an ax, others like an instrument. They ran at them. Naruto watched, a scowl marring his face. This was exactly what he wanted to avoid. He held back on them so they defeated the clones. They all turned to Naruto. He had Fuka-hone in his hands a tune going. "Oto Oto Illusion."

"Tell everybody I'm on my way. New friends and new places to see. With blue skies ahead, yes I'm on my way, and there's no place I'd rather be. Tell everybody I'm on my way. And I'm loving every step I take. With the sun beating down, yes, I'm on my way. And I can't keep this smile off my face."

—oo000oo—

None of the four even remembered the blond. All they did remember was that they have been traveling a long time and were finally home with friends and family. Koby saw Luffy again and gave him his firmest handshake. Before throwing him over his shoulder, laughing. Jango saw some of his old crew, the ones he really cared for. Fullbody was met by a girl that told him she loved him once but he had been too full of himself to accept her.

While there was no one like any of those there for Helmeppo, the friends of his friends welcomed him. During all this, a song that fit the situation was heard in the background.

"Cause theres nothing like seeing each other again. No matter what the distance between. And the stories we tell, will make you smile. Or, really lifts my heart

"So tell 'em I'm on my way. New friends and new places to see. And to sleep under the stars, who could ask for more. With the moon keeping watch over me.

"Not the snow nor the rain, can change my mind. The sun will come out, wait and see. And the feeling of the wind in your face can lift your heart. Oh... there's no where I'd rather be. Cause I'm on my way now Well and truly. I'm my way there now. I'm on my way now. I'm on my way now.

"Tell everybody I'm on my way I just can't wait to be there. With blue skies ahead, yes I'm on my way. And nothing but good times to share.

"So tell everybody I'm on my way. And I just can't wait to be home. With the sun beating down, yes I'm on my way. And nothing but good times to show.

"I'm on my way. Yes, I'm on my way."

—oo000oo—

They came to and looked at Naruto. "Don't move or I will play a song that will bring your worst nightmares alive."

"What did you do," Koby asked. He couldn't believe it. He had his swords in hand about to fight him then he with greeting his oldest friend. His swords had been dropped on the ground.

"I am asking the questions. Why did you attack me?"

"I will not tolerate another that wants to be Pirate King," Fullbody said and the other three nodded in agreement. "We are charged with keeping the peace so we will."

Naruto relaxed a little but didn't put down Fuka-hone. "I don't want to be Pirate King, I never did. I think him a hero for what he has done, defeating Crocodile, Ax Hand Morgan, Arlong, I can go on. But I am not a pirate. This ship is freedom, not a means to strike fear. Though I have met them and they are not your average pirates."

"We know," Jango said. "You could have killed us, couldn't you?"

"Without a moments hesitation," Naruto told him. "You were right, my friends and I are soldiers. And we fight to complete the mission and defend ourselves and each other."

"...I believe we have misjudged him, sir," Helmeppo said.

Fullbody sighed. "So we have. I apologize, Captain Uzumaki," he said with a bow.

"You willing to behave civil?"

"Yes," they all said.

"Good, I prefer making friends to enemies." He created another clone that ran and got some of the light wine. "To fair winds and calm seas," Naruto said raising his glass while they each held theirs in shock. "No good? Ahem, there are good ships and there are wood ships. There are ships that sail the sea. But the best of ships are friendships and may they always be. Better?"

Jango started to laugh after a moment. "Even if you don't want to be Pirate King, you are just like Luffy!"

Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "How so?" Before they could answer, another ship pulled into port. It was the Evening's Star. Naruto growled at it, half tempted to turn the canons of the Song on it. "I hate to do this but you must leave the Morning's Song now."

They looked at his sudden anger and at the object that caused it. "We will see you in the tournament then."

—oo000oo—

The Evening's Star weighed anchor right next to the Morning's Song. Captain Heero grinned at the look on the watch. "Something wrong? We came to port for supplies."

"...I wish to speak with the Jonin on the Evening's Star."

Baki stepped up to the railing. "And why?"

"It is disrespectful to talk like this. Face to face."

They met on the dock. Naruto glared at him and his three genin. He didn't like the look he received from the one with the gourd. "This is a clear violation of the treaty between our villages," Naruto about yelled. "When I inform the Hokage you attacked us..."

"Did we ever attacked you? We never notched a single arrow into our bow strings," Baki countered."

"And I am to believe your canon's weren't going to be aimed at us if you caught up?"

"Why, our father, the Kazekage, was simply worried that the Leaf was sending such a light team out to sea," Temari told him.

"You are some good liars," Naruto stated. "What are you after, for real?"

"Nothing," Kankuro stated. "Our father was simply worried."

"...I will make this clear," Naruto seethed. "This is a neutral port. Fighting will not be tolerated and the instigator will be shot down in his ship. Tell your captain I have claimed 'futoukou'. If he refuses, than I will give him my reply." He turned and went back aboard the Morning's Song.

"...what does that mean?"

—oo000oo—

"The damn brat," Heero yelled. "He actually pulled that on me!?"

"What," Baki asked.

"Futoukou means free port. While here, none from either ship may, under any circumstances, fight. Both parties are punished for it. Depending on how bad determines the punishment. For one of us to kill his crew and even a single one lives, our crew are to be slain."

"Refuse," Kankuro told him.

Heero glared at him. "You think it is that easy!? There is a lot more here than just that. Take a look!" He pointed to the ships around them. The men on all of them were watching. "Who do you think enforces the punishment!? We try _anything_ and they blast us out of the water. These canons I have on my ship are some of the best in the West Blue. But even that little Brigantine has better!" He pointed to the Morning's Song. "I don't know what all you can do. But I have seen one of these tear through a ninja that said he had an absolute defense. I am not putting my ship in danger, not here."

Baki looked over at the Morning's Song and at the smug look on Naruto. "...They haven't found what they are looking for anyway. Heero, there are repairs that need to be made, correct?"

"Yes..." He went up to the figure head, two dolphins leaping out of the ocean. "Forgive me for being so forgetful, Kaila and Kiribati." He touched his hand to his forehead and lips, a gesture made by close by crew. "...Quartermaster! Go ashore and get needed supplies! I want the Star ready to face those beasties again before sunset! More you scurvy dogs or I'll nail your gizzards to the mast!" They all jumped up and started running everywhere. "I feel better," Heero said.

—oo000oo—

As the sun was setting, a chilling tone reached across the harbor. It came from a small brigantine that had pulled in that very day. It was a guitar that ached the hearts of everyone there. And slowly, a violin joined in. The two voices sang across the water, calling to those that had died while at sea. Instruments from ships all through the port joined in until a full orchestra played. Then they stopped, leaving the guitar to finish the last string.

—oo000oo—

The next day, Naruto was walking through town. He had a few things on his list that wasn't necessary for the ship to sail but things that would make it better. "Excuse me," he said to a fruit vendor. "Were these grown on the island?"

He smiled. "That they were, son! Right behind the village in fact! As fresh as all can be. Interested in buying a few?"

"Interested in buying the trees," Naruto told him.

"Well now... Isn't that something." He looked Naruto up and down, his eyes settling on his headband. "Ah, you are from that ship that pulled in yesterday. Tell you what," he leaned closer. "You tell me who started that last night and I will tell you who to talk to."

Naruto arched an eyebrow. "Why do you want to know?"

"Come on, boy! It is the talk of the town! No one has ever done that before! A song from a ship is not that uncommon but to make all of them join in, that takes talent! He is going to win and I want to know who to bet on!"

Naruto smiled. "Sorry, I'm not in the contest." He reached a hand behind his back and plucked a few strings.

"That was you!?"

"Hey, keep it down," Naruto told him. "Now, who do I talk to to get some of these fruit trees?"

"Lad, I am the man to talk to." A larger man stepped out from the back of the shop. "So you want one of my trees?"

"Four of them," Naruto told him. "After inspection, of course."

"...My trees are top of the line. More valuable than you can imagine. Why should I sell them to you?"

"Because I am paying gold for them." He patted a small bag at his side. It was a small portion of the treasure the old owners of the Morning's Song. "What say you?"

"That I have gold," the big man said. "But if you are the one that did that last night, then your guitar might be worth the four..."

"Forget it," Naruto said, anger in his voice. "Fuka-hone is worth more than ten of your trees." He turned around to find he had drawn a crowd. "Am I going to have to fight my way back to my ship?"

"Now, now," the man said. "Don't be un-reasonable. That is a unique instrument without a doubt. But I am willing to bet for the right price, you will part with it."

"Hmph. Someone like you could never get Fuka-hone to sing like I can." He bent his knees and jumped onto the roof of the store. "Nor could you bully me into giving her to you."

"Whoa, whoa, I wasn't trying to bully you lad," the man said. He glared at the observers. "They are not with me. What are all of you doing here!?"

"I heard that that was the person that played last night," one said. "I was going to offer him two million berries for his guitar."

"Not for sale," Naruto told him.

"Ha, two million, I'm offering five!"

"No, ten!" It was quickly growing out of control.

"SHUT UP," Naruto yelled. "For the last time, not only is Fuka-hone not for sale, she won't let anyone else play her like I can." He jumped down, pulling her from his back. "Who can play the guitar?" Several volunteered. "You, get over here." A man with a grin stepped up. "You will play your best for everyone here. Tune Fuka-hone as you see fit. Test the strings. And if you try to run with her..." A clone appeared beside him, blade in hand. "I will kill you."

The man swallowed as he took her. Spending five minutes to tune her, he played a song. But it sounded flat and dead. "Enough," Naruto said, taking her back. Keeping her the same way, he played the same song. And the song sounded very much alive. "Fuka-hone chooses who plays her. I was damn lucky. When I get older and can't play anymore, I will pass her along the same way she was passed to me. Until then, we are inseparable.

"Now, is there anyone else that has trees on this island," he asked the group.

"No one else but Barbarossa," the vendor behind him said. "Good luck getting him to sell them."

"Then I will go speak with this Barbarossa."

—oo000oo—

"Vegetable!"

"You sir, you look like you have a good, strong guitar there! But a guitar is nothing without the best strings!"

"I guaranty that using this wood, the wood of the Iron oak tree grown only on this island, your ship will never take canon damage again!"

Naruto liked it here. The hustle and bustle of Konoha but none of the glares. Everyone had things to do and greeted each other warmly so long as they were not marine and pirate. He passed a vendor that was unusually quiet. "And what are you selling?"

"...Weapons," the man said.

"These are weapons," Naruto asked. They were the most unusual things he had ever seen. "None of them hold an edge."

"These come from the North Blue. Unlike the rest of the world, we don't have super powered men and women there. So we were forced to make better weapons to beat whatever monster came our way."

"And this can do it," Naruto asked, holding up one of them. It was similar to the weapons he had in the armory but at the same time, couldn't be farther from them. This one had a cylinder that came out with seven holes in it.

"That right there is an anti-personnel deluxe," he said off hand. "It is called a Medusa. As you don't look like you have a clue about these, I'd say you are not only new to the Grand Line, you are from most likely the West Blue."

"How did you know?"

"They don't even have the basic pistol there. Most have never even heard of it. Of course, that isn't always a bad thing. A good number of men and women die with these involved. As I was saying. The pistols you will see in general are single shot, black powder weapons. There is one now," he said, pointing to a pirate. "These though are much different than those. This is the round." He held up a small object that was lead on top and brass on the bottom. "Something you will only find in the North Blue. The powder inside is severely different, and is called gun powder. The shape of the head makes it move through the air smoother. If you look inside the barrel, you will see grooves to make it fly straighter."

Naruto picked up the round. "I have seen one of these. A little different but mostly the same." He reached into his pouch and pulled out a thinner but longer one and gave it to him.

"Hmm. A Winchester lever action long rifle, thirty caliber. Used for long distance sniping."

"How long?"

"Oh... I'd say a person with good enough eyes and aim could hit the bull's eye of a target say a mile away. These will go straight even farther but no one is that good."

Naruto looked amazed. A person throwing a kunai could hit bull's eye, if they were lucky, no farther than a hundred yards. "What could it do to a person at that range?"

"...It will have lost most of it's power but it would at least go right through them. Make a nice size hole on their backside."

"A friend of mine was shot by this. I know about the hole."

The man nodded. "You killed the shooter and kept the weapon no doubt. Needed to know what it was." Naruto nodded. "You want more ammo for it?"

"...How many for how much?"

"I'd say you could get a box of fifty rounds for ten gold coins, give or take on the thickness."

"Not berries?"

"Gold is the universal currency."

Naruto nodded and took out thirty. "How about these?"

"...Nice. More than do. Four boxes." He laid them on the table. Naruto drew a new seal on his arm and placed them inside. "Anything else?"

"This pistol," he said, holding up the Magnum. "What is the drawback?"

"Unlike the rifle, it isn't meant for distance. Rather, it is meant for mid range fighting. Close up fighting is better left for a person with a knife. That rifle for a great distance. Because it is heavy and hard to run with. As you can see with this one, while it heavier than a blade, not so heavy as to cause you to slow down. You can shoot it in one hand and hit a person... fifty feet. Get farther than that and it is up to your skill. Won't travel a hundred though."

"And?"

The rounds themselves. As I already said, they are only made in the North Blue. Meaning they are next to impossible to find outside my shop. And even I have only so much ammo. You maybe able to kill seven men to their one in the same amount of time but in the end, I can guaranty they have more ammo in the end. This particular one swings the cylinder out, a new design. Most others, like the Dovetail, has a part that slides open so the expended rounds can be taken out and the new one put in.

"Or this one. It is used by our officers. Breech loaded, you have to take the time to load each individual shot before hand. Because this has six chambers. But it can use the same ammunition as the ones used here. But like I said, the drawback is that it takes time to load. Bit more accurate than the Medusa or the Dovetail."

"Which do you recommend?"

"...Buy a few rounds and I will let you try them out back."

—oo000oo—

Naruto held the Medusa first. He held it like he had no idea what to do. Because he didn't. "Aim it at the targets as they pop up," the clerk said. When the first one came up, Naruto fired. He aimed for center mass but the sudden jerk of the gun made him hit the shoulder. "Okay...try the Dovetail."

This one was lighter and the rounds smaller. He called it a nine mil and said it carried six rounds. Prepared this time, he shot the next target and hit closer to center. He tried the breech loader next. He aimed the same place as the Dovetail and squeezed the trigger. But the ball round hit left. "The balls are less accurate."

"Then the obvious choice is between the Medusa and Dovetail. Put me in something akin to a combat situation," Naruto said, lifting both up. He had the Medusa in his strong arm. In rapid procession, five targets went up and down. All of them shot. "...I think I like the Medusa."

"How did you do that? No one has ever taken to a gun like that before."

"Easy," Naruto said, throwing a kunai at the next target that came up. It was actually three to the head. "Aim is what my people pride themselves on. How much for the Medusa?"

"Seventy Five for those coins will do it. Same price for the ammunition as for the Winchester."

Naruto paid him, for that and bought a box of ammo. He really didn't have many of those to spare. Loading the Medusa and putting the holster for it inside his coat, above his chest, he continued on his day.

—oo000oo—

Luffy and Jiriaya sighed. They knew they were not ahead of Naruto and the others. So when they came to Little Garden and found they were not there, both grew worried.

"Nami... Take out the Eternal Pose and set sail for Alabasta," Luffy ordered.

No one liked it but they had spoken to Crocus. They were aboard the captured vessel and were sailing ahead of them by three whole days. So if they weren't here, they were on the other route.

"Any chance we might have passed them," Jiriaya asked.

"None," Franky said. "I would have seen them no matter the distance. They have a Log Pose so they are following it. From there, they will head, eventually, to Alabasta."

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes. The guns may or may not have been the best move. But they will not hold a central part of the story. More like they will be used when all else fails or there is no time for hand signs. Now, if you can't tell, I view the North Blue as the America's of this fic. And I put their technology at about the wild west age and setting. More advance than the ball and powder rifle but not M16 LMGAS: lightweight, magazine fed, gas powered, air cooled, shoulder fired. No gats, no full auto. And about the Winchester, it is possible to make that shot with that class of rifle. Just damn near impossible because the limits of our eyes.

I couldn't help but make Shukaku sea sick. I don't like the 'I will kill all' Gaara. But when he is a friend of Naruto, I do like him.

Now, the songs used here was 'What shall we do with a drunken sailor', 'I'm on my Way' from Brother Bear, and the song I had playing over the harbor was 'Nearer my God to Thee' from Titanic. I really like that one. No words but they aren't needed to get the feelings across.

No, Naruto is not going to compete, I have a completely different reason for them being here at the time of the Contest. I will reveal that in the next chapter. Now, song request or ideas. Go ahead, give them. I like creating situations that they fit in. Just to let you know, I do plan on Naruto singing 'Two perfect girls for me' later on.

I don't know if that is the title but I think it is funny and fits, no? And the two in the song fit Yugito and Hinata. I admit, I watched Pokemon when I was younger and this song got stuck in my head. I couldn't help laughing at the thought of Naruto singing that and Hinata and Yugito glaring at him for it.


	14. Chapter 14

Kushina yawned. "Mommy, when will big brother come back?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, dear." There was a knock at the door. Opening it, she saw an ANBU standing there. He was taller than she was and his mask was old but well cared for. It was also that of a weasel.

"Mikoto Uchiha, I have a message for you. May I come in," the ANBU asked.

"...Of course, ANBU-san. My apologies, my eldest son wore a mask like that."

He stepped inside, looking around the house. "I am aware of that. Do you have any silencing seals placed on the walls?"

"No..."

The ANBU flashed through some handsigns and the symbol for silence appeared on the walls. "What I am about to tell you stays between you, ma'am."

"Do I have to leave the room," Kushina asked. The ANBU stared at her in surprise.

"My daughter, Kushina," Mikoto explained.

The ANBU knelt down and rubbed her hair, causing her to complain. "No, you can stay. The news I have concerns your big big brother."

"Itachi!?" Mikoto demanded.

The man turned to looked at her and removed his mask, revealing a smile on his face. "Hello, mother." He was nearly bowled over as she hugged him.

—oo000oo—

"I don't know what words I can say. The wind has a way to talk to me," a woman named Melfina from the Always Forward sang. "Flowers, sleep, a silent lullaby, I pray for reply. I'm ready. Quiet day calms me. Of serenity. Someone please tell me. Hmm, What is it they say? Maybe I will know one day.

"I don't know what words I can say. The wind has a way to talk to me. Flowers, sleep, a silent lullaby, I pray for reply. I'm ready." As she finished, there were cat calls, cheers, and a few proposals.

"Give it up for Miss Melfina of the mercenary ship Always Forward," the announcer shouted. It was the beginning of the finals and someone made the wise decision to have Melfina go first to get everyone hyped up.

"Thank you for listening," Melfina said with a bow. The cheers increased ten fold.

"Now, before the start, we got a special treat for all of you," the announcer said as she walked off stage. "We got here, today, the man that is a one man band and played that song just a few nights ago. Even though he will not be participating in the contest, he has agreed to play here and now!"

Naruto walked up on the stage. _'The things I will do to get what I need'_ Naruto thought.

—oo000oo—

"_So you want some of my trees, eh," Barbarossa asked._

"_Yes. My crew are new to the sea, though competent. And I am afraid that we had to leave short on supplies. But more over, we need a ready supply of fruits." Naruto had a slightly bad taste in his mouth when he remembered eating a certain fruit. "Orange trees would be preferred."_

"_...You were pointed to me without any idea, weren't you?"_

"_Yeah, I was."_

"_Follow me." He took him outside to his farm. There, his trees grew in rows and were currently baring fruit. Several different kinds. "These are my trees. I found a way to transplant branches from one tree to the other, making a single capable of any fruit. I have one that bares all that grow in this weather."_

"_Show me," Naruto said. He took Naruto to a tree that held all fruits imaginable. Several types of apples, oranges, grapefruits, star fruit, mango, kiwi, grapes, pears, peaches, and plums. "By the Maiden!"_

"_The accumulation of my work," the old pirate said. "That took years to do."_

"_How do you do it?"_

"_A bio-degradable glue," Barbarossa said. "I make as clean a cut as possible on two branches of same size. Then glue them on the other tree. Of course, there are some trees that just won't transplant on others. And some that won't accept others. And the glue is the hardest part. But doing it doesn't take long, I could do it in an after noon."_

"_I feel that there is more," Naruto stated. "And that 'more' is keeping me from getting a tree. Especially that tree."_

"_You're right. This damn festival. More often than not, it is a pirate or marine that wins. And they start bragging about it to the other. Then all hell breaks loose. As big a tradition as the contest really. Now I enjoy it. But I hate that they tear up everything around them, my trees included. This one here has survived three years. With numerous broken branches."_

"_So, even though it doesn't take long to set it up, it takes time to get it to this state," Naruto figured._

"_Damn straight," Barbarossa about shouted. He took off his hat and wiped his head. "I'm getting too damn old to have to start over every year."_

"_...I'll protect them," Naruto said. "Or stop the fight."_

"_Hell no," Barbarossa told him. "I enjoy that part too much for you to stop it! No, what I really want is the fight done early and over quickly. Then, with them all still at the stage, they will never get close enough to my trees. You do that, and I will give you this one in particular."_

—oo000oo—

Naruto cleared his throat as he took Fuka-hone off his back. "So, you guys gonna walk the path of angels or are you ready to raise some hell?" Predictably, they all shouted that they wanted to raise some hell.

He hit a couple of notes and they started shouting. "Oto Oto Rush," Naruto said softly so no one heard him. He picked up the pace and then let them have it. He stomped his boot and the drum entered. Naruto had actually been looking for the perfect spot to play this one.

"Say your prayers little one. Dont forget, my son, to include everyone. Tuck you in, warm within, keep you free from sin, till the sandman he comes!

"Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight. Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand, off to never never land!

"Somethings wrong, shut the light, heavy thoughts tonight, and they aren't of snow white. Dreams of war, dreams of liars. Dreams of dragons fire. And of things that will bite.

"Sleep with one eye open. Gripping your pillow tight. Exit light. Enter night. Take my hand, off to never never land!

"Now I lay down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake, I pary the Lord my soul to take.

"Hush little baby, don't say an word. And never mind that voice you heard. Its just the beast under your bed, in your closet, in your head!

"Exit light! Enter night! Grains of sand! Exit light! Enter night! Take my hand, we're off to never never land!"

—oo000oo—

"Check it out Gaara," Kankuro said, "he is playing your theme song." Gaara only nodded.

"Something really has them riled up," Temari said looking out over the crowd. "He plays another song like that, there is going to be a fight."

"Correction," some close by said. "There is going to be one hell of a moss pit!"

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked at them all and knew that one more little push was needed. So he changed the sound of Fuka-hone to a little lighter. And started plucking the strings at an unbelievable speed. "And when you raise hell... You better get ready to walk through the fire and flames!"

"On a cold winter morning, in the time before the light. In flames of death's eternal reign, we ride towards the fight. When the darkness has fallen down, and the times are tough all right. The sound of evil laughter falls around the world tonight.

"Fighting hard, fighting on for the steel, through the wastelands evermore, the scattered souls will feel the hell, bodies wasted on the shore. On the blackest plains in Hell's domain, we watch them as they go, through fire and pain, and once again we know...

"So now we're flying, we're free, we're free before the thunderstorm. On towards the wilderness, our quest carries on. Far beyond the sundown, far beyond the moonlight. Deep inside our hearts and all our souls...

"So far away we wait for the day, for the light source so wasted and gone! We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days! Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

"As the red day is dawning, and the lightning cracks the sky, They'll raise their hands to the heavens above with resentment in their eyes. Running back through the midmorning light, there's a burning in my heart. We're banished from a time in a fallen land, to a life beyond the stars. In your darkest dreams see to believe, our destiny is time, And endlessly we'll all be free tonight!

"And on the wings of a dream, so far beyond reality. All alone in desperation, now the time has gone. Lost inside you'll never find, lost within my own mind. Day after day this misery must go on!

"So far away we wait for the day, for the light source so wasted and gone! We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days! Through the fire and the flames we carry on!

"Now here we stand with their blood on our hands. We fought so hard now can we understand! I'll break the seal of this curse if I possibly can for freedom of every man!

"So far away we wait for the day, for the light source so wasted and gone! We feel the pain of a lifetime lost in a thousand days! Through the fire and the flames we carry on!"

Naruto looked at the crowd and saw a moss pit right there. Everyone was in on it, really. Sailors, farmers, marine, and pirate. All just wanted to fight. "...Maybe a bit too much rush and not enough Oto Oto," Naruto said with a rueful grin. He ducked as some one was actually hit hard enough to be thrown at him.

—oo000oo—

"What the hell," Sasuke yelled, kicking a man back. "What did he do!?"

"You have never been to a rock concert I see," Zabuza stated. "Everyone there is just looking for a reason to get in things like this. Just takes ten people and it can get pretty bad." He elbowed someone and and backhand another. "Granted this is a bit worst than I am used to seeing but hey, these are men and women that live to fight."

Oddly enough, no one was even going near Hakari. "...That's it!" She rushed in, and started throwing people around. One even headed for the stage.

"Hey, where are Yugito and and Hinata going," Anko asked, the only calm one there. It seemed that the Oto Oto Rush affected her adversely. It made people have a sudden adrenaline high so that they are more aggressive. But Anko seemed to calm to normal proportions.

"For that matter, where is Haku," Zabuza asked.

—oo000oo—

Haku ducked a punch and gave the person that sent it one of his own. He didn't like fighting but as it turned out, this was just a 'harmless' brawl and he did enjoy it. The next person threw a rather sloppy punch and Haku got behind him. Wrapping his arms around his waist, he delivered a German suplex, throwing him into the men and women behind them. He jumped up and came face to face with a blond woman with her hair in four ponytails. He hesitated.

She swung the fan on her back. Haku ducked it but it would have gone over him anyway. It cracked the skull of a larger pirate. "Don't stop," she shouted at him. "Unless you want to be on the receiving end here!"

Haku gave a kick to the head of a man coming up behind her. "Don't want that! Name's Haku!"

"Temari," she replied. "I'm feeling generous right now. So how about when this is over, you treat me to dinner!?"

Haku and Temari press back to back of each other. "Ha ha! Is now really the best time for this!? Sure! So long as my ship doesn't set sail after this is over! My captain is known for causing trouble!"

She grinned at him. While her inner self had two thumbs up! _'About time I found a guy that isn't afraid of me!? But gonna have to give him the once over before the fighting is done. We can't date a weakling now can we!?'_

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked at the side of the stage as he straightened from the duck. There were several girls right there around his age. And he realized that aggression from women also included sex drive. "SHIT!" He ran faster than when he was being chased by Shinja. Because he wouldn't just die if they caught him.

"Come back!"

"Can I have your autograph!?"

"A lock of your hair, that's all I ask!?"

"The Maiden's wrath," Naruto shouted as a curse, "fangirls! I definitely used too much rush and not enough Oto!" He was headed to the docks. He made a cross with his hands. "Kage Bunshin no jutsu!" Several clones appeared. But it didn't work quite how he would hope.

"There is one for all of us now," one of them shouted.

"Forget it, boss," the clones told him before dispelling themselves.

"TRAITORS!" Naruto was still in the clouds of smoke when he was suddenly grabbed from the side and pulled into an ally. "THEY GOT ME!"

"Shh," Yugito said, covering his mouth and looking out onto the street. The fangirls passed with no clue.

"They are gone," Hinata told him. Which was odd because she always stuttered when she talked to him. Only when she talked to him, he realized.

Naruto pulled Yugito's hand off his face. "Am I glad to meet someone still sane. It is a mad house out there. Where can we go to hide?" Even as he asked that, something seemed off to him.

Yugito purred into his ear, "Here is fine." She then gave him a lick on the cheek. While Hinata grabbed his hand and started guiding it to her breast.

"Not you two as well!?" He took his hand back and pushed them away. "Stop! This is just my abilities making you act like this!"

"No," Yugito said. "I actually been thinking about this for a bit now. Never thought about sharing you though." She reached for him again.

"Now we are going to make you notice us, Naruto-kun," Hinata said. "Whether you like it or not. But I bet you will." She put her hands under his shirt.

"Stop!" He jumped up on the building and started running. But they were right on his trail. "I can't believe this! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" This time they stayed long enough to loose them.

—oo000oo—

It took an hour for everyone to finally calm down. Many were nursing some injury or other. "Ahem," the announcer, with a black eye, said from the stage. "Now that that is over, let us continue the contest!" People cheered but really didn't have the energy to jump up and down, wave their arms in the air, or anything else.

—oo000oo—

Naruto dropped to the ground from the tree that was going to be his when Barbarossa walked back, limping and holding an arm close. "Damn that was fun," the aged pirate told him. "Nice job. How did you do that? And especially how did you do the full band up there with no help?"

"Uh... I'm a man of many talents?"

"Fine lad, I can understand the desire to keep secrets. The tree is your's. Dig her out and take her back to your ship."

"...Is it safe? Have the fangirls calmed down?" Barbarossa looked at him for a moment and fell over from laughing.

—oo000oo—

"Yo ho heave ho," a clone said as they carried the tree in a giant pot to the Morning's Song.

"Naruto," Haku called, spotting him. "We still got another day, right?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?"

"...I met a girl at the concert and she asked me to dinner."

Naruto smiled for a moment before he blushed deep red at his own female concerns. "Well, you better find her soon. Did you already agree where?"

"Yeah, just needed to know we would be here. ...What is with the tree?"

"Oh, I bought it for the ship. Fresh fruits are rare on the ocean. Now, you better tell me what she is like when it is over, bro." They started back to the ship. Not seeing Haku rubbing the back of his head where she had gotten a good hit on him. Or his cut knee where he hit her in return.

—oo000oo—

"I c, can't b, believe we d, did that," Hinata said to Yugito inside the sleeping quarters. Not only was her face red, her entire body was. "...He has a nice chest..."

Yugito just laughed at that last bit. "Doesn't taste bad either. But seriously...do you think he will think less of us now?"

"Hey in there," Naruto called from shore. "I can use a hand with this." A clone came to the door, looked in, blushed a deep red, and said, "Ano...I need some help stabilizing a tree and I can't make anymore clones. I'm out of chakra and the others have their hands full with the tree."

They blushed red as well but nodded. Up on deck, the clone, Yugito, and Hinata put a rope through a pulley and tied it to the tree trunk. "Now heave," Naruto said to them. As they pulled, the others supported it and carried it onto the castle, where is would get the most light. Once it was set, Naruto released the clones and dropped to the deck. "...Whew! Always hard when I do that..." He lifted his head and looked at the two. A blush covered his face and their's. "I swear I didn't know that was going to happen, Hinata-chan, Yugito-chan."

"Ano... I, It wasn't your f, fault, N, Naruto-kun."

"We should have realized something was up. Especially when we decided the ally was a fine place to do...what we were planning."

"..." Naruto turned redder. "If I could, I would go jump in the water to cool off." He got up and headed to where he knew he could take a cold shower.

"Wait," Hinata said to him. "Um... Thank you! F, For being a g, gentleman and n, not taking ad, advantage of the s, situation."

Naruto nodded to them. "No problem. When I finally decide to do that, I want the person I am with to be doing it because they care for me." He walked off the ship, telling them he would see them later. When he was out of sight of it though... He ran for all he was worth to the nearest bath house. "I want the coldest damn bath you have ever drawn!"

—oo000oo—

Haku came back to the ship that evening with a huge grin on his face. Naruto saw this and arched an eyebrow at him. "Go well?"

"Yes..."

"...And?"

"And what," Haku danced around the question.

"And did you at least kissed the girl good night!?" His grin said he did. "You dog!"

"Walked her to her boat and everything," Haku said. "...Fiery one she is. Demanded that I treat her as a queen and when I replied there was no other right way to treat a woman, she said there better not be."

Naruto smiled at how his friend enjoyed his time doing this. But his face straightened when something else came to his thoughts. "You know that when we leave, we are likely to never see her again."

Haku sobered up at that. "I know. But I really enjoy her company. I even met her brothers. The one that spoke said he pitied me because of how much she was going to hurt me physically. His exact words were 'She is going to beat the living sh... UMPH!' Temari had gut checked him at that point. Not a woman that needs protecting. Though I got the feeling that if I hurt her, the other one was going to skin me alive. He scared me. Just standing there, his arms crossed, not saying a word."

"So, her name is Temari eh? Which ship is she on? Maybe we will see her again after we set sail."

"...Uh...Give me a moment. Some people bought us a few drinks because we made a cute couple. ...Now where is it... Ah there... Oh shit."

"Where," Naruto demanded. Haku was looking in the same direction as the Evening Star. "Behind the Sand ship, eh?" He moved left and right to get a better view. "Which is it? The schooner? The galleon? The Always Forward? Don't tell me it was Melfina!? Wait, her name is Temari. Which one!?"

"...The Evening Star."

"Oh... WHAT THE HELL!?"

"I didn't know! She never had her headband on!"

Naruto just let out a sigh. "I'll chalk it up to adding to my songs this after noon. I don't hold it against you Haku, these things happen. But the question is what do we do about it?"

"What do you mean? ...I just never speak with her again."

"And if it comes to blows?"

"...I'd rather not think about that now."

"Great idea, we'll think about it later," Naruto agreed. "Just...go sober up."

Haku headed to the hold. "...Naruto, I honestly didn't..."

"Haku, I'm not mad," Naruto told him, exasperated. "You were doing what your heart told you, right?" He nodded, he was fond of Temari right from the get go. "We have always lived by that. You with Zabuza-san, me with me whole village. If your's says 'Go after this girl and make her your's' then you damn well better listen to it while you can."

"I miss much? I heard my name," Zabuza said as he walked onto the ship. Haku quickly made his way to the med hold.

"Haku had a date tonight and it turned out to be a Suna kunoichi."

Zabuza was silent for a moment. He looked at Naruto and back to the door to the med lab and Haku's room. "...Damn."

"Anko is going to tease him to no end if she finds out," Naruto stated.

"I am going to tease him to no end," Zabuza corrected. "But after we leave and hopefully get away from them. As soon as the log pose is set, set sail. Even if it is in the middle of the night."

"That would be for the best." Naruto looked at it and saw that most of the magnets that held up the main had changed directions. He'd give it twelve more hours to a day.

—oo000oo—

"Team eight," Kakashi said with a glare in his eye. "These are the forms for the Chunin exams. Sign them."

"Hmm. Kakashi, is this your way of saying we have improved or another attempt to knock us down a few pegs," Sakura asked. She smirked at how they still did not see eye to eyes. They infuriated him so much, he refused to let them be long enough for him to even be late. There was even a running bet in the village on how long it would last. So far, Sakura, Kiba, and Shino were the most likely to win as the others stopped at three months. They bet for six or longer.

"I refuse to answer that," Kakashi told her. "Now, normally, when this is done, you would get the time in between the handing out the forms to the exam off. But I told the Hokage my team could keep working. In fact, I think a good old higher C rank mission is in order. To get you pumped up for the exam."

"Slave driver," Kiba shouted.

"Dog breath," Kakashi retorted.

"Cyclops!"

"Mutt!"

Sakura couldn't resist making a jonin look like a child. "One eyed wonder!"

"Flat chested fangirl!"

"...Talentless idiot," Shino said in his monotone voice. That shocked all of them. But the other two genin were not going to let a defenseless target get away.

"Thieving monkey," Kiba yelled.

"A man so ugly, he has to wear a mask to get dates! So ugly, he eats in a flash so he won't scare the food away," Sakura shouted.

"...Flea ridden mangy mongrel! Billboard brow!"

The two laughed. "That is Ino's nicknames for us," Kiba shouted.

"He can;t even come up with his own insults, much less jutsus!" Sakura was rolling on the ground, laughing so hard.

"...It is pathetic," Shino said.

Fire shown in Kakashi's eye. "THAT IS IT! I am going to teach all of you my signature technique! The one jutsu I never copied but rather made! The Chidori!" He flashed through hands signs and ran at them with lightning jumping from his hand. The three jumped out of the way while he plunged his hand right through a tree, cutting it down.

"It took me several months to make that! Weeks to master it! You will do it in time for the exam if it kills you! ..." He looked down and, once again, saw Akamaru pissing on him. "AGH! I'LL MOUNT HIS HEAD ON MY WALL!" Team Eight was last seen running to their mission and for their lives with an enrage Kakashi behind them, swearing pain of death if he caught them.

—oo000oo—

"So, what was so important in Konoha you had to stop there while on the way," Kakuzu asked.

"...None of your business," Itachi said.

"Oh, I think it is very much my business," Kakuzu told him. " Anything that endangers the mission it our business." Itachi remained silent and kept looking out on the water. They had been at sea for three days now. "I will..."

Itachi held up a gold coin and flipped it behind him. Kakuzu jumped for it. And then glared at Itachi for making a fool of him.

"Kakuzu," Kisame said, coming up behind him. "Allow me to show up how it is done. Itachi, a _penny_ for your thoughts." He couldn't resist throwing that one out.

"...Thinking about how I made Orochimaru quit Akatsuki."

"How did you do that anyway? I heard he tried to take your body but couldn't."

—oo000oo—

"_Ha! I am more evil than you, Itachi," Orochimaru yelled, eating a muffin._

"_...Never going to happen."_

"_Like hell it hasn't!"_

_Itachi glared at him. "You know that taste in your mouth you get when you drink orange juice and brush your teeth?"_

"_I hate that."_

"_I love it. You like puppies? Even a little? I kick them. And that muffin you are holding..."_

"_No..."_

"_Before you came in and took a bite out of it, I dropped it on the floor and put it back."_

"_NOOOOO!"_

—oo000oo—

"It was something like that," Itachi told him, a slight smirk on his lips.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I don't know who made that cartoon short but you can find it on Google. I remembered it today and couldn't resist putting it in. I give all credit of that Itachi flashback to the original author. And I borrowed a line from 'An Uzumaki in the Dunes' by Pudgypudge. About the treatment of Haku.

Like I even need to put the next part but the first song was 'Enter Sandman; by Metallica. The second was 'Thought the Fire and Flames,' by Dragonforce. Honestly, who doesn't know 'Enter Sandman'?

Now, no one has asked me what has become of anyone left behind but I am going to put things like the Team Eight Arc in future chapters. He just never seems to get respect from them.


	15. Chapter 15

Kankuro yawned as he stepped onto the deck. Taking a deep breath, he looked around and saw his brother once again in the crow's nest to watch the sunrise. "Yo, Gaara! Want to join me? I'm about to do some exercises."

He didn't answer but shushined down to him. Without a word, he started doing squats, still with his gourd on his back. "...Something seems off this morning," Gaara stated.

"Temari is sleeping off those drinks she had," Kankuro stated. It was quiet because she wasn't up to cause trouble for them. "Now a question. Should we try to get those two together and out her of our hair or scare him so bad he never comes back?"

"...Both sound promising. But that isn't what I meant. Last night, several ships left. And I feel as if that is important. But I was close to nodding off so I went for a run and missed why."

"...That blond isn't playing like he normally does," Kankuro realized. They both looked at the Morning's Song and saw it was missing.

"Ah," the two said.

—oo000oo—

"Captain," Baki said as he followed the man as he ran about the ship, prepping her to set said. "There is no rush, we can follow them now or in a half hour when the ship is finally ready. Razor has already spotted them and has been relaying their location through his clones."

Heero let out a breath. "Delay my orders. Finish getting supplies but make it snappy!"

Temari choose right then to come on the deck. "I miss something?"

"The Leaf has flown away on the wind," Baki told her. "I know your spent a better part of yesterday with someone here so if you want to say goodbye, you have a half hour to find him if you can. The Song was the only ship that left so I doubt he is still here."

Temari sighed. "Figures. I will be back in twenty minutes whether or not I find him."

—oo000oo—

"Hinata," Naruto called up to the girl in the crow's nest. "Anything around that might cause trouble?"

"N, Nothing but oh, open ocean," Hinata replied.

"Then use your Byakugan to try to find our little eye in the sky."

Hinata began focusing on the bird around them. They were still relatively close to Black Hills so the seagulls were out in full force but she ignored them. Nothing that loud and annoying could be a ninja. Her thoughts turned to Naruto for a moment. 'Well, maybe they could.'

"...I f, found it!" She pointed to far away behind them. "A h, hawk with a S, Suna headband t, tied around its back, N, Naruto-kun."

He looked at where she pointed and saw a dot in the sky. "...Must be at least two miles away." He went into the armory and got the Winchester. Maybe he could hit it. He loaded five rounds into the storage barrel and cocked the lever.

"What are you doing," Yugito asked. She was eying the rifle.

"This is a _long_ distance weapon, capable of also being used close up. But sniping is what it is meant for. That hawk is a long distance target."

"Don't," said a voice that would not brook being ignored. Naruto turned around and Saw Haku had come back on deck. He had on a new Hunter nin mask, this one from Konoha. "Leave it be."

"...You know that they are following us through that, right," Yugito asked.

"He does," Naruto told her. "But he has never liked needless bloodshed. What do you supposed then?"

"That we find out why they are following us. And..." His hands fell into a familiar handsign, one above his head and the other in front of his chest. Mist settled around the ship. "And making it hard to follow us. There is more than enough mist to make it hard to follow us. Better this than antagonizing them."

Naruto looked at him for a bit before he went up to the mainmast and climbed it. "Hinata-chan can you still see that hawk?"

"Y, Yes," the girl said next to him. She was nervous again.

Naruto sighed, lifted her chin, and gave her a quick kiss. When she came to again, she seemed calmer. "Is that hawk following us or did it loose us?"

"...It is looking around for us but is still there," she said as she looked through the fog.

Naruto looked down at Haku and then out through the mist. He held the rifle out to Hinata. "Shoot it."

"W, What?"

"No!"

"Line up the sights, making sure to look at the target and not the sights themselves. Squeeze the trigger and the round in the chamber will fire. I can't hit it if my life depended on me, not from this range. But not because of the rifle, I can't see that far. You can." A shenbon sunk into the mast by his head. "...You are now our sniper, Hinata-chan. Give me a minute before you do shoot it." He leaned the winchester against the mast and dropped down to Haku. "Come with me." Stopping only long enough for a course correction, he went in the armory. "The mask, take it off."

Haku removed it. "Naruto, don't."

Naruto let out a sigh. "Damn you fell hard. Haku, I know you are wearing the mask so you won't be described to Temari. And you want them to continue following us so you might get the chance to talk to her again. But they are not here to help us. Like it or not, we are more than likely enemies." His voice remained calm during the whole thing.

"But..."

"No buts. I am going to ask Hinata to shoot it if it is still there. That is your only chance." He started to walk out. But stopped by Haku's side and put a hand on his shoulder. "If they can't follow us, then they will have little choice but to turn back home. Where we will be headed someday as well. No matter what, there is always a chance." Nebi-chan slid along his arm and wrapped around Haku's neck to comfort him. "Just think on how to make that chance better. Like you did when you needed Nebi-chan's venom."

Haku scratched the little snake's head as he replaced his mask and went back out.

"Hinata-chan, is he still there?"

"...S, Sort of. He is f, flying over the m, mist trying to f, find us. But h, he is not n, near us."

"...Alright. Keep an eye on him. I don't want you firing until it is obvious he has found us. No need to give our position away." He turned and headed back up the castle to the wheel. He clapped Haku's shoulder. "Looks like we still have guest."

—oo000oo—

"Man, this reminds me of Suna," Jiriaya stated when Sanji told him about Alabasta.

"...What is your country like, old man," Sanji asked after taking a drag on his cigarette.

"Me and the other Leaf are from the Land of Fire. The whole country is covered in forest so the main element there is often fire from all the wood. Haku and Zabuza is from the Land of Water, an island country the same size as the other countries. The whole thing is ofter covered in mist. They also have rather large trees there called a Giant Redwood. They grow so tall, they can't water to the top so the draw in the mist through their leaves. And Yugito is from Kumo, the Village Hidden in the Clouds, in the Land of Lightning.

"Now her country is odd. Storms are most prevalent there. There is actually a place called the Thunder Plains because the storm there hasn't stopped since recorded history. To fight a Cloud ninja there is suicide. They fight using lightning. So while there, a major part of there country's defense, they are able to use lightning jutsus a hundred times more powerful without taking any chakra."

"What about swordsmen," Zoro asked.

Jiriaya smiled. "That is Zabuza you want. He was part of a group called the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. As the name suggest, there were seven of them. And they all used a zanbatou. You saw the one Zabuza swung around. Like it weighed nothing. All seven of them did that and more. One, a man that looks like a shark, wields the Samehada, a sentient sword and is damn near impossible to beat."

Zoro grinned. "That is until he meets me."

"...Yeah, you are likely to be a challenge to him. But the seven of them hold the title as the best in the Elemental Continent. They were said to have a match between them to see who was better. They stopped because the island they were fighting on was destroyed."

"And Anko," Sanji asked. "Not many women that beautiful can dissuade me from chasing them right from the start."

Jiriaya laughed, holding his sides to keep them from bursting. "She is... Is a freak in the sack, as I have heard. The stories that has been told by the few that come out of there alive say it was the best and worst moment of their lives."

The two of them blinked in confusion. "People don't come out of there alive," Zoro asked.

"A woman like that was put in charge of kids," Sanji asked.

"Well...nothing certain has happened," Jiriaya said vaguely. "And... Whoa!" The ship gave a lurch. They went up to the deck and saw why. Another ship had pulled along side them.

Luffy stepped up to the boarding plank that now spanned the ships. "What is meaning of this," he demanded."

A tall man wearing a black cloak with red clouds on it and a bamboo hat stepped up across from him. "...Monkey D. Luffy, King of the Pirates."

"That's me," he replied. "...Let me guess, Bounty Hunter? Or someone else trying to steal One Piece from me?"

"I am a bounty hunter but you are worth berries, a worthless currency in my country. And I haven't heard of this 'One Piece' before. I am here for a much different prize. Tell me, where is Yugito?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"He is Akatsuki," Jiriaya stated. "I had heard rumors but it seems they are true. You are after the nine Bijuu."

"Jiriaya, the Toad Sannin. Then your godson is on this ship as well. If you give them over, we will continue on our way to get the One Tail and the Three Tails."

"One, I will never let you get my nephew," Jiriaya growled. "Second, they are not on this ship." He bit his thumb and pressed to his palm. He was about to hit the deck when a voice he remembered clearly caught his attention.

"Jiriaya-sama," Itachi called. "Where is Naruto-kun?"

Jiriaya cut his eyes to the left and locked them with Itachi's. His Sharigan changed from normal to what looked like a three point shuriken.

—oo000oo—

The world flipped for Jiriaya, the sky was red and the ground black. Itachi was right there in front of him, black and white. _"For the next Seventy two hours, you are stuck here in this universe that I control."_

—oo000oo—

Jiriaya fell to the deck after a moment and started heaving. "Wow, Itachi, you really let him have it," Kisame said.

Zoro drew his swords. "What did you do to him?"

But Kisame ignored the question. "Interesting... I never heard of a sword style like your's. Who are you?"

"I am Roronoa Zoro, the best Swordsman on the oceans."

All three of the Akatsuki looked at Kisame. Who was grinning like a madman. "That a fact? I hate to tell you this but not that I'm back, you are second best. Ah, that's right, Zabuza is also on this little cruise. Well, third place is still respectable...somewhat." He threw off his hat and cloak. He didn't wear a shirt and wore some cargo pants made from this odd looking material. He replaced the strap he held Samehada around his chest. Finally, he tore the bandages from his blade. "Bring it on, little man!" Zoro didn't need to be told twice.

He jumped over the squat, fat one and brought all three blades at an impossible angle to block with that large sword. But he blocked it anyway. "WHAT!?"

"Let me guess," Kisame said with a laugh. "You thought that just because this is a zanbatou, it couldn't move as freely as your katana! I am a fishman! I can move as free as I want!" He elbowed Zoro in the face, knocking him into the mast.

"Zoro," Luffy yelled as he was about to run over to them. "Gumo Gumo Rocket!" He shot at him like a canon. But a hand attached to these black threads grabbed him and forced him to the deck.

"If you want to fight, boy, then you will fight me. ...What unusual abilities. Your body has so much give to it."

"You ain't seen nothing yet! Gumo Gumo Balloon!" He body expanded until the threads snapped. "Gumo Gumo Gatling Gun!" He sent attack after attack at Kakuzu.

"Franky, you want the one that seems content to watch," Sanji asked.

Franky popped the knuckles in his hand. "Hell yeah I do." He started across to the other ship.

"...How rude, not even asking if I wanted a try," Chopper said behind them. Usopp, Nami, and Robin nodded in agreement. "I guess I better check on Jiriaya then."

—oo000oo—

"So, what do you do," Franky asked.

"...I'm not in this. My target is the Three and One Tail."

"Afraid?"

"Of being bored to death."

Franky scowled and ran at him, a fist raised to cave his head in. Sasori sighed in annoyance and whipped his tail at him. Franky caught it, pulled, and slammed Sasori onto the bow. He then looked at his hands. "Those are some sharp edges. You scratched my hands."

Sasori stood back up. "I see you body has also been altered. Not many can withstand the damage I do to them. So I shall not hold back."

—oo000oo—

Zoro stood back up, only a little worst for wear. "I don't care if you are a fishman or a walking sushi bar! No one calls me third rate! Oni Giri!" The four swords clashed and Kisame found himself being pushed back. Kisame jumped back and went for a stab. Zoro crossed his swords and pushed it to the side. It by his right shoulder, the flat touching it.

And Kisame grinned as he pulled it back. Zoro roared in pain as the spikes on it shredded the muscle there. "This isn't just any old sword, boy. This sword doesn't cut, is shaves! Thousands of razor edges are on it! And it can create more at will!" He brought Samehada back and did a slash. Zoro ducked under it and crossed his arms over his chest. He was going to cut him in half.

Kisame dug the tip of the blade into the deck and pushed off with it. He kneed Zoro in the head then brought his fist down on his head. The whole time he was laughing. And his eyes were growing more blood shot.

"Kisame, Kakuzu, Sasori, stop," Itachi said as the side affects of the Tsukiomi finally passed. "They are no longer on this ship so we are only wasting time here. Throw them back on their ship so we get back to finding them."

Kisame scowled at him. Kakuzu nodded and dropped his cloak and thousands of the threads came from his body. As one, they all wrapped around Luffy. Sasori also nodded and turned back to Franky. "This ends now."

"Is that...SHIT!" The tail had just came up through the deck, wrapped around Franky, and went back below. He came back up behind Sasori and was thrown like a sack of potatoes back on the Thousand Sunny. He sat up and found that in that time, Kakuzu had tied Luffy around the mast.

"Damn it!" Kisame yelled in rage as he went to grab the swordsman. Zoro swung his swords at him. "We can't finish this now but make no mistake, we will. Now get off my ship."

Zoro glared at him but nodded. "I _will_ fight you again. And mount that on a plaque up on my wall when I kill you."

"To the victor the spoils," Kisame agreed. "But as neither of us is Victor, I'll just take your swords."

—oo000oo—

"Damn," Luffy yelled when he finally freed himself. "Usopp, the canons!"

"Don't!" It had come from Jiriaya. "I'm fine Chopper, just a side affect of getting hit with that." He stood up. "Itachi is a friend."

—oo000oo—

"Uh...Naruto, I thought you said that there was no islands for another week," Yugito said. She was referring to the sound of waves hitting the shore.

"There shouldn't be. Haku, drop the mist, something is up."

He nodded and let it fade away. Above them, the hawk spotted them and sent another clone to inform his summoner where they were.

"...Nice," Anko said as she got a look at it. Crystal clear waters surrounded an island of ebony black sand. The trees were tropical and and so was the weather. It was a paradise. "Tell me this is where we stop at."

Naruto glanced at the Log Pose. "It appears to be. But why wasn't it on the chart?"

"Ano... M, Maybe we are th, the f, first to r, reach it," Hinata offered.

"...Zabuza," Naruto said, turning back to the wheel, "You look like you could use a walk."

"Uh... No."

"Why not go check the beach to see if we can pull right up to shore. Unless you are afraid that some is there waiting to eat you. Not that uncommon in this archipelago."

He growled, "I've noticed."

"Good, the you agree that you are the best person to send ashore first. Obviously, you'll eat them before they eat you."

"I'm going, I'm going." Swinging the Zanbatou on his back, he jumped over the side of the ship and headed for shore. "Nice and smooth going up it," he called back.

"Then we'll bring her about." He grabbed a rope and tossed it to him. "Guide us in."

—oo000oo—

"...Nothing," Yugito said as she laid down on the sand. "I only smell the trees and the sea." She cracked open a pineapple and drank the juice inside. "Not what I expected. No life but us."

"Ano..." Hinata said right next to her. "Why are we still wearing our ninja gear then? The beach, the sand, no enemies."

"I love where you are going with this," Anko shouted. She threw off her trench coat and was already in her swim wear.

Naruto glanced at the Log Pose again and saw it hadn't moved yet. "Might be a while. Might as well relax until the Evening Star shows up." He took Fuka-hone off his back and started playing.

"Sun tan toes tickling the sand. Cold drink chilling in my right hand. Watching you sleep in the evening light. Resting up for a long, long night.

"Cause when the sun goes down, we'll be grooving. When the sun goes down, we'll be feeling alright. When the sun sinks down, over the water. Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down. Yeah.

"All day long just taking it easy. Laying in a hammock where it's nice and breezy. And sleeping off the night before, cause when the sun goes down we'll be back for more.

"Cause when the sun goes down, we'll be grooving. When the sun goes down, we'll be feeling alright. When the sun sinks down, over the water. Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down.

"This old guitar and my dark sunglasses. This sweet concoction as smooth as molasses. Nothing to do but breath all day. Until the big moon rises and its time to play.

"Cause when the sun goes down, we'll be grooving. When the sun goes down, we'll be feeling alright. When the sun sinks down, over the water. Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down.

"Cause when the sun goes down, we'll be grooving. When the sun goes down, we'll be feeling alright. When the sun sinks down, over the water. Everything gets hotter when the sun goes down. Yeah."

Anko grinned evilly. "Planning something this evening? With one of these two? Or maybe even both of them?" Yugito turned red while Hinata fainted. "Just too damn easy," she said with a laugh.

"I didn't turn red, Anko-chan," Naruto challenged.

She stopped laughing and turned her head to face him, her smile still there. "I shall have to correct that." She stood up and created a Kage Bunshin clone. "Why don't you save yourself and blush now."

"Never."

"Fine. Ahem... Ninja Harem no jutsu!" She changed into Yugito and Hinata, both naked, and they both latched onto an arm. "Oh, N, Naruto-kun..."

"You already know me ears are sensitive," the Yugito look alike said. "Want to try and find more places?"

Naruto's last waking thoughts before his nosebleed sent him into a tree was 'SHE TURNED MY OWN JUTSU ON ME!?'

—oo000oo—

"Like I said, too easy," Anko said with a V in the air. She then gave a mortified Hinata and Yugito a Cheshire Cat grin. "Something wrong?"

Sasuke just shook his head, as did Hakari. "That dobe has no will power."

"The baka," Hakari agreed.

"Knock it off you two," Haku said. He was in shorts but still wearing the mask. "He is a self admitted pervert so something like that was sure to get him."

Zabuza just laughed. "That much is obvious." But he cast a sly grin at the two red girls. "But I have a feeling it was because of who she changed to."

—oo000oo—

"Sir, land ho," the watchman atop the crow's nest called down.

"Good. Where is the Morning's Song?"

"Pulled up to shore."

"Baki, we are taking the Star around to just out of sight of the Song. I will leave it to you to find out if this is their destination."

The Jonin nodded and walked to the railing next to Gaara. "...You know, your father gave me an unspoken order to see to it that you died on this trip."

"No surprise," Gaara replied. "...Shukaku is begging again." A smile was tugging at him lips. "Think this is it?"

"Doubt it. From what I learned back on Black Hills, the 'Log Pose' takes time to change to a new direction to the next island. We are going to be doing this a lot."

This time Gaara didn't resist smiling. "So we will be out here for a while."

"...Looks like we will. You don't sound like you will miss Suna."

"...Nothing but bad memories there. I much prefer the open ocean and Shukaku complain how seasick he is to him demanding how I should kill everyone around me."

Baki nodded to that. Gaara had been down right pleasant since he has been out here. It was a change he definitely didn't mind. He didn't idly threaten every person that comes near him now. Usually he saves that for when some tries to get his ramen. And Kami help them because no one else will. "Maybe what Temari suggested will happen. That they never find what they are looking for and will keep searching forever and we'll keep chasing forever. Honestly doesn't sound that bad..." He started to laugh at the irony. Desert ninjas wanting to live the rest of their lives out on the ocean.

—oo000oo—

Temari was hiding in the trees as she watched the Leaf ninja. Night had set hours ago and they seemed content to just spend time on the shore around the fire they made. They were all there asleep except the hunter nin. He sat there, looking at across the water for some reason. "Yo," the one with the hat said. "I'm going to take a leak. Hold the fort, alright?"

"Sure, Naruto."

"Hey, relax. I'm sure she's out there right now." With that, he walked into the forest. After a few moments, she heard him moan as he did his business.

"Some ninja," Temari muttered.

There was a click as something was put under her chin. "Yeah," Naruto said. "I mean, all this time here and never once checking to see if we knew you were there."

"Should I be afraid of a guitar?" He moved it a little and beads of blood appeared on her neck.

"You should when that guitar is Fuka-hone. Your Kazekage must really be worried to have you stick to us like this. But that isn't necessary. So why don't you set sail for home. I doubt that you will have trouble getting through the Calm Belt considering how you treated it last time you were there."

"While that might be true, our orders are absolute."

"Well, lets talk in the camp then," he said giving her a push forward. "Two coming in, Hunter."

"Bring her on in."

As Naruto did, all of them stood up. "I can't believe I was so stupid," Temari muttered.

"Yeah, we can't believe you were either," Zabuza stated. "I mean, a hunter nin, a master of _silent_ killing, a Hyuuga, a fishman, an Uchiha, the Super Brat by your side, and Snake Mistress Anko. Getting close enough to see our faces was the biggest mistake you could have ever done. And could very well be the last mistake you ever do."

"No," the hunter ninja said. "She stays alive. They follow us for now. Let's not make them want to kill us. And we are technically allies. This could put the already fragile peace we have over the edge."

"...He is right," Anko said. "When were you to be replaced?"

"At ten."

"Then you are our guest until then," Naruto stated. "Apple?" He held one up to her.

"...Fruits are rare on the ocean," Temari stated.

"Normally, yes," Yugito replied. "But that idiot has one hell of a green thumb. And you would be amazed how well plants react to chakra."

"We will have more by morning, eat." Naruto tossed it to her which she caught and ate greedily. Being in a desert made fruits rare. "So, why are you really follow us?"

"My father, the Kazekage, feels that there is something of value out here and that is what you are after." Her eyes widened as she continued. "...We, my brothers and teacher, were sent to...get it after you found it." She was breathing hard from the effort to stop. "Bastard! That fruit was drugged, wasn't it!?"

"It was. Why does he want it?"

"Because of you damn Leaf! Our _great_ Daimyo has been send customers to your village so he could have reason to cut our funding! Everyone is suffering there while you profit! So my father has been doing what he can to bring customers back! Anything that will help our village! He almost accepted an alliance with some snake in the grass that wanted to destroy your village!"

Anko narrowed her eyes. "Who? There is a reason you used that term, isn't there?"

Temari snarled. "The fucker looks like a damn snake and is even named after the Eight Tail Snake, Orochi! His name is Orochimaru!"

"Tell me what you know about him," Anko demanded.

And Temari smiled. "I don't know much. Especially what you want. I have no idea where he is."

"What is he planning, girl!?"

"He is going to attack during the Chunin exams. He wanted us in particular there because my brother carries the One Tailed Raccoon-dog, Shukaku inside him. And he can release him just by falling asleep. Not to mention that while he isn't on the water where Shukaku is weakest, he has this unquenchable thirst for blood. Orochimaru is intent to see your village raised to the ground. And then he is going to spit on the face of your dead Hokage. His own words."

Naruto wasn't sure if he should be growling or feeling sadness that there was another like him on this same island. He got off easiest apparently. "Which one is he?"

"Who?"

"Your brother that holds Shukaku. Which is he?"

"Gaara, the one with the gourd."

Naruto looked into the fire and then into space. "Yo, dobe, you okay," Sasuke asked him. "...Never mind, I know what is up."

"Mind telling me," Temari asked. "Since you drugged me and I answered your questions."

"...Sure," Sasuke said. "We are going to stop a madman that is creating fruit that cause the ones that eat them to go insane and die." Hinata looked down at the sand and clenched her fist. "I did a little checking and the one that happened in our village wasn't the only one in the Elemental Continent. There has been at least one in each country. Ours was the first ninja though."

"Summoning no Jutsu!" A snake appeared under Anko.

"Evening, milady," the snake said with a bow. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I need a message taken to the Hidden Leaf Village."

The snake would have smiled if he could. "Of course, why else summon me. I will have it there is... Where are we? The Land of Sea?"

"The Grand Line," Anko told him. "It needs to be there before the Chunin Exams. As fast as possible."

"...Three days," the little snake told her. "The message?"

"To the Hokage. Orochimaru is going to attack during the Exams. Tried to make alliance with Suna but they refused. But they have hard feelings about our success at their loss. He intends to kill you. Our current situation is that we have been separated from Jiriaya and the ship. But we are continuing on another ship being captained by Naruto. Plan to meet up with Jiriaya again at the island Alabasta. From Anko."

The snake nodded and disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Naruto, you okay?"

"...Yeah, Anko-sensei," Naruto replied. "Just thinking about what Gaara must have gone through."

"You could never imagine," Temari said with a glare.

"He can imagine more than you can," Sasuke said. "I'm telling them, Naruto." He swallowed but nodded.

"Naruto holds the Nine Tail Fox inside of him. Sealed there by the Fourth Hokage himself at the cost of his life," Sasuke said to everyone. "That is why he is like this right now."

Temari grew wide eyes and wanted to crawl away. Zabuza arched an eyebrow as did Hakari. The hunter nin did nothing on the outside other than clench a fist. And Hinata covered her mouth and tears fell from her eyes. She hugged him. "No wonder everyone is so mean to you," Hinata cried.

"And he isn't the only one," Yugito said. She knelt down right in front of Temari. "I hold the Two Tail Cat, Nekomata." This time, Temari did try to crawl away. "And I bet that your brother after acted on that desire for blood." Temari nodded, terrified that they my be like that as well.

"Stop acting like an idiot," Zabuza told her. "Do they look blood thirsty to you?"

"...No," Temari said after a minute.

"Good. Well, now that you know what we are here for, stop following us."

"You are probably lying."

Sasuke grabbed the half eaten apple and finished it. "Ask. I'm in the same situation as you are."

"Is everything you said here true?"

"All of it," Sasuke replied, feeling his mouth work on its own. "We are after a man that gave a ninja of our village a Devil Fruit."

"Devil Fruit?"

"Yes. I do not really know anything about them but these fake ones are really dangerous."

"...Man..."

"What?"

"We will have to go home now and I prefer it on the ocean."

Naruto smiled half hearted. "So do I. Well, you were ordered to follow until we find our objective. If you want, keep going."

"You, release my sister," a voice came from behind them. It was Gaara.

"Alright, I told her she can leave when she was to be replaced any." Naruto gave her half of an orange. "The antidote." He gave the other half to Sasuke. "Care to sit down and talk for a bit instead of watching us from the trees?"

Gaara said nothing until after Temari walked back to the ship. "If you hurt her..."

"Nothing but her pride," Naruto assured him. "Hungry? This one isn't drugged."

"What did you do to my sister?"

"I wanted the truth so I gave her and apple that had some truth serum in it. Sasuke ate it as well."

Gaara nodded. When Naruto picked up another orange, peeled it, and was about to eat it, Gaara took it. "I would like an orange."

"Don't trust us, eh?"

"Would you?"

"Not for an instant." Naruto frowned when he saw that was the last orange and grabbed an apple. "So you are a Jinchuuriki as well?"

Gaara looked at him hard. "Excuse me?"

"Jinchuuriki, human sacrifice. You, Yugito, and me." He lifted his shirt and showed the seal. Yugito pulled her shirt collar to reveal hers on her shoulder.

Hakari sighed. "Demons, ninjas, ...and two girls with their hormones running their lives. And an oblivious musician for a captain."

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes. Another chapter bites the dust. So, who caught the hidden message about this island? I know I left it off with Itachi, but I'll explain it next chapter. Evil me, I know. I'll get my wrist slapped for it later.

Almost time for our special guest star to make his appearance. Can't wait to put that one in it. Who? Why, Isonade of course. This chapter's song was 'When the Sun goes Down' by Kenny Chesney. So, what do you think to Team Eight going to retrieve Tsunade?


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Notes. Just to let you know, there will be a word in this chapter that is hard to pronounce. Sahuagin. It is said 'Sah-hoo-ah-gin'.

—oo000oo—

Morning found the Morning's Song crew with Baki. And the ground shaking. "Alright, I'm awake," Naruto yelled as he sat up. He looked around and saw it wasn't someone shaking him to wake him. "Earth quake!"

He really didn't need to say it as everyone had already guessed that. "No shit," Baki and Zabuza yelled.

Luckily, nothing fell on them. Unfortunately, the shaking didn't stop. "What is it, a volcano eruption," Hakari yelled.

"No, there is no smoke or ash in the air," Yugito told her. "This is something else... What is that noise!?" That is when the others realized there was a sound coming from the ocean. Kind of like a whale's call. But infinitely louder.

—oo000oo—

Temari didn't want to believe it. She couldn't believe it. This was real life not some story you tell children! This just doesn't happen! A turtle had lifted its head out of the water not five hundred feet from the Evening Star. A head that could swallow the ship whole and was attached to what she had thought to be an island. "There is no way this is happening!"

The turtle let out a yawn as it stretched and a flipper came out of the water. It was longer than the the docks at Black Hills. It came up and then back down below the surface. Not only did the whole island jerk, it kicked up a huge wave. It came down on the beach, knocking anything not firmly anchored back. The trees took it easily. They had been growing on this turtle for centuries, getting needed air and nutrients from the turtle.

"Temari, we need to get back to the Evening Star," Kankuro yelled.

"Why!?"

"Turtles only come to the surface to rest and breath! Meaning..." The water was climbing higher.

"THE TURTLE IS SINKING," they yelled.

—oo000oo—

"That looks like a flipper," Naruto said, pointing behind them.

They all looked at it in disbelief. Then Hakari slammed a fist into her hand. "This is a Ten Day island."

"What does that mean," Hinata asked.

"It is a giant turtle. They spend months underwater and come up for ten days for air. Some somehow grow trees and other plant life on them in a symbiotic relationship. They keep them alive while the plants recycle the air. I think when I was younger, I watched up as it went under. Had the same sand now that I think of it. Anyway, some Pirates landed on it and were still on it when it went under. Caused a giant whirlpool to form, and all of them drowned."

"Really? ...OTO!? Get back to the ship!" They all started running as another flipper came up and was sent back under. The water level was was rising. They all ran on the water to the ship except Hakari. She wasn't really worried at all. With another yawn, she walked after them and lazily swam to the ship.

"...We need to get to the Evening Star," Baki yelled.

"Later," Naruto told him. "Hinata, Yugito, let loose all sails! Zabuza, Baki, pull up the anchors! Hunter, if we can't get away from here fast enough, I want you to create a ice bubble around the ship! That maybe the only thing that will keep us alive!"

"We need to go make sure the the Evening Star is leaving," Baki insisted.

"I said later," Naruto roared. "I understand you are worried about your students but there is nothing we can do for them now! Not if we want to survive!"

"This ship is one of the fastest and you can't get there in time!?"

Anko grabbed Baki by the collar and pulled him close. "Let me make this clear, what he says goes while on this ship."

Hakari climbed up on the deck. "We aren't far enough yet," she told them. "I give it another five minutes."

"...Hakari, you won't drown. Go make sure the Evening Star is hauling ass from this island," Naruto told her.

She nodded before picking her spear from its spot on the railing weapon rack and diving back into the water. There was a streak in the water as she swam to them.

"There Baki, I am making sure. Now help Zabuza! Anko, Sasuke, secure everything in the holds! Because this is going to be one hell of a wild ride!"

They pulled away from the turtle and watched it descend below the surface. "...That is bigger than I thought it would be," Naruto said. They were being pulled back. "Hunter, NOW! Tie yourselves off!"

Ice surrounded the ship, making it waterproof and airtight. "One more thing," Naruto said. "When things get really bad, I think it will be safe to stick your head between your legs and kiss your asses goodbye!"

—oo000oo—

The Morning Song came to the surface right side up. Nothing was wrong...with the ship. Naruto was almost lying in a pool of his own throw up. "Everyone alive?"

"Anko present," she moaned.

"I survived some how," Sasuke informed them.

"Uh...Urk," came from Yugito as she threw up again.

"I'm fine," Hinata said.

"Hunter, Zabuza," Naruto asked.

"Alive and well," Zabuza told him. He put a hand on Haku's shoulder and straightened his mask. "Thanks."

"You're welcome, Zabuza-sama."

"I came out of it as well," Baki told him. "Hunter, can you drop the dome? I want to see if they survived." The ice turned to steam and they all looked around and saw...nothing.

"...Hakari," Sasuke called out. "Hakari, come back a board!" His voice rang out across the water. But nothing surfaced the water.

Naruto climbed to the top of the mast and took out the telescope. "...Nothing. We are in almost the same place but I... Debris. There a piece of debris to starboard." He jumped down and took the Song over to it. "Maiden, please let her be alright."

Sasuke jumped over the side and picked it up. "...You are not going to like this," he said to them as he came back up. He was holding a puppet.

"They were pulled under," Baki stated in a voice the older ninja recognized. The same one they used when they lost a team.

"Baki, I..." Naruto started.

"Shut it," he told him. "Your first concern was your ship and crew. If we had gone to them, we would also be dead. I am sorry I cost you a crew member."

"...I gave her the order," Naruto said, raising a hand to his forehead. "We'll search for survivors for a day. After that, they will all have died." They all nodded and jumped off the ship, leaving Haku and Naruto there. "I'm sorry, Haku. I..."

"You should have gone," Haku yelled. "We could have made it to them and I could have protected all of us!"

"I saw you nearly pass out from the strain," Naruto said, shaking his head. "We would have died as well. I..." Haku punched him in the face.

"SHUT UP! This is your fault! You act like you know so much and you couldn't even tell the difference between an island and a turtle!"

"You aren't being fair, Haku," Naruto said as he got back up. "I did what was needed to survive."

"We could have at least got them on our ship!" He raised his fist again and tried to punch him again.

"Stop it," Naruto told him as he caught the fist. "You are making Nebi-chan agitated enough as is."

"I don't give a damn about how mad this snake is! I don't! Not her, not you, not this damn ship and crew!"

"Haku..." He caught Haku's other fist. "You are acting childish, knock it off."

"Fuck you!" he pulled his fist back while Naruto kept his iron grip on them so he was pulled as well. Haku kneed him in the stomach then jumped over him and twisted his arms so Naruto's were dislocated. His right foot then met the back of his head.

Naruto got up with a scowl on his face as he put his shoulders back in their sockets. "You really don't know what you are messing with. Stop." He ducked behind Fuka-hone to dodge the thrown shenbons. "Fine." He jumped up in the air and came down on Haku, swinging Fuka-hone in a chop. He was going to beat some sense into Haku.

The deck nearly buckled as contact was made. Haku was almost on his knees but he pushed back. "I'm not Zabuza-sama's apprentice for nothing, Naruto." In his hands was a zanbatou made of ice, blocking the ax. He delivered a kick to his stomach and jumped out on the water. "Kirigakure no Jutsu." The mist returned. "I am going to enjoy this, Naruto."

"No you won't," Naruto said, clicking his tongue. "Not only do I know where you are, I know you. You hate this and your only doing it because..." He spun and blocked the attack from Haku. "Because it helps you ignore how much your heart is hurting."

"How would you know!? You never lost someone because you never had them!"

"I know because I was the one that told Hinata her father was dead. He was an abusive bastard but he was her father and she loved him. I wish I could have kept the scars of her beating on my chest, trying to deny it. It took two hours before she finally just fell and cried."

He pushed Haku back until they were at the edge of the ship. "Now listen and listen good. I won't say anything about this if you just drop the weapon and let it out."

"What do you think I'm doing!?" He stepped back and they both fell in the water. Naruto panicked for a moment but he was able to get his chakra to his hands and feet and swam back to the surface. He broke water and found Haku waiting for him. He let his chakra go to avoid the descending blade. Going to the other side of the Morning Song, he climbed back up.

"I hate water," Naruto said as it dripped off him. With his back to the hull he clicked his tongue. He didn't see him anywhere which meant he was underwater. Naruto climbed back up and waited.

"Afraid to fight me Naruto," Haku asked.

"No, just got tired of waiting so I was going to take a nap," Naruto replied. He leaned Fuka-hone against the wall. "...Oto Oto Thunderclap!" He clapped his hands together just as Haku landed on the deck in front of him. The sound was amplified so loud, Haku was blown backwards. Haku coughed blood onto his mask. "Don't get up, Haku. Silent killing is useless against me."

He pushed himself to his hands and knees. "...No. Not...yet."

"...Oto Oto Snap." He snapped his fingers and he got the same results as the Thunderclap but smaller. Haku only felt like he took a fist to the gut from this one. Naruto picked Fuka-hone back up and played some notes.

Haku went rigid as he tried to ignored the feeling. "...There...are no...snakes...under my skin," he told himself.

Naruto reach for Nebi-chan and she returned to her spot around his neck. "No there isn't. Now calm down and release the Kirigakure no Jutsu. We might miss one of the others."

Haku nodded and the mist faded away. "What did you hit me with?"

"I picked up pitch until the sound waves were moving in one constant stream and could actually move something. I then focused it on you. The Thunderclap is obviously more powerful than the Snap."

"Feels like you crushed something," Haku told him.

"Are you going to be okay?"

He took off his mask and saw the color of the blood there. "Yeah, no serious internal bleeding. Bruise a few organs though."

"Sorry," Naruto said as he helped his brother up. "Anything I can do?"

"Hand me my sword, I need an ice pack."

Naruto eyed him wearily as he did. Haku placed it against his chest.

"Naruto!" He went to the railing and saw Hakari being carried on the back of Anko. "She's been attack! Call the others back!"

Going up to the crow's nest to make it go farther, he strummed Fuka-hone's strings. It almost sounded like a voice. "_Turn your sails to home_."

Anko laid Hakari on the deck. "What attacked you," Haku asked her, his body still sore.

"...Sah... Sahuagin." She passed out, blood seeping from several stab wounds.

—oo000oo—

"She'll be fine," Haku told them. "Her wounds were clean cuts instead of jagged so they were easily healed. Naruto, those were made by knives."

"But there was no one around, where did she receive them," Yugito asked.

"The Sahuagin is what she said," Naruto told them. "But I have never heard of them."

"I wouldn't expect you to," Hakari said from the door to the med lab. "They are creatures of deep water."

Haku stood back up. "You should be resting."

"No time. The Sahuagin are humanoid underwater creatures similar to a fishman. But they are evil, no other way to put it. They can't really leave the water and hate all that can. They have been known to attack ships but mostly they prefer to attack merfolk and fishman villages. And they are the ones that have you crew and genin, Baki." She sat down against the mast, a grimace on her face. "I tried to save them but we didn't get far enough. So Temari used this jutsu that place this air bubble around all of them.

"The Evening Star crashed to the ocean floor and was ruined but all but maybe two or three were alive. I was about to go find you guys to get them out of there but they came first. Sahuagin are really primitive, tribal things." She spat as she said them. "But they are smart enough to realize that sunken ships hold treasures. They swarmed over the railings and found treasure alright. Their next meal still alive."

"Are they..." Baki started to ask.

"Neither Temari nor Kankuro could really do anything but Gaara could. Sand lays everywhere on the ocean floor. Even as they hefted their spears to throw, the sand came up and started tearing them apart. Many of them died. But he wasn't moving fast enough, the sand was to heavy and Shukaku couldn't provide him with enough chakra. So he did the only thing he could. He encased all of them in shields on sand, everyone but me. I told him not to so I could come get you guys."

"What happened that you are like this," Sasuke asked.

"...Not many things fight with the fury of a fishman. I wasn't to be eaten, rather I was put in there stadium to fight as many of them I could before they finally killed me. Depending on how many died, they might feed my body to their priest's pet sharks. Or if I had killed many of them, they would have eaten be to take my strength. So I forced myself into a Berserk Rage as soon as I could and literally brought down the house. When I finally came to, so were they and it was a race to get away from them."

"...How do we help them," Naruto asked. He would be all but useless on this one but he was not going to leave them behind.

"We use that same jutsu and go down there and kick their asses," Baki said, handsigns flashing until a bubble settle around him.

—oo000oo—

Several figures looked up at the boat. The blood trail ended here. They would pay if they have their target. They would. The leader nodded to them and they split into two groups, half going to each side.

—oo000oo—

"We can't perform jutsu very well doing that," Anko told him. "And none of the genin know that jutsu."

Naruto was already practicing it. "I wish I knew it before." None of them saw the webbed hand grab a hold of the railing.

"We can't go rushing into this," Zabuza told them. "Me and Haku can fight them because water survival is what we do. But none of you have ever done anything like this."

They all looked at him like he had grown another head. They were all thinking the same thoughts. 'Zabuza is being the voice of reason?'

A voice that had a quality of being spoken through water, like Hakari had, interrupted them. "Give us a reason not to kill you," a creature with the sun to it's back said to them. He stood nine feet tall and was heavily muscular. "Are you hurt, girl?"

Hakari squinted and then smiled. "I am a little but we were just about to go get revenge on the Sahuagin that did it. Care to join us, Raid Leader?"

He stepped more into the shadows, revealing his face. He was a fishman. "When and where?" Twelve more figures climbed on deck, both fishman and merfolk, and all of them carrying weapons. In times of war, even the peaceful carried arms.

—oo000oo—

"I told her three days but I caught a good current," the little snake said to the Hokage.

"So, he is coming eh?"

"Yes. A Sand told her as much as she knew. It wasn't much but more than enough in my opinion."

"Thank you for getting here so soon. You may go home now." The snake puffed out of existence and left Sarutobi to his thoughts. "Rin, get me the section commanders as well as the ANBU captains and Uchiha Mikoto."

"Right away, sir," Rin replied.

—oo000oo—

"What can we do for you, Hokage," one of the Jonin asked.

"We are going to war," Sarutobi said cryptically. "Orochimaru is planning to attack during the chunin exams. But now that we know this, we can take actions to prevent this...or capitalize it."

"What do you mean," Mikoto asked.

"Orochimaru is our greatest traitor, wanted dead by all five of the Five Great Ninja Nations. And he is walking into our hands," Kakashi said. "We can do the proverbial 'cut off the snakes head'."

"Right. No doubt he will have his own village. The only problem is, how to do we go about killing him," Sarutobi asked them all.

"...Get another Sannin," Mikoto stated.

"Right," Sarutobi replied. "And with Jiriaya out at sea, that just leaves your former sensei, Tsunade."

"I will find her," Mikoto said determinedly.

"Good. Everyone else, prepare your sections for combat. Jonin leaders, I leave it up to you if your teams go through the exams. They will likely not be able to finish it and will probably have to fight on the front lines."

They were silent for a moment. "I may hate them to no end," came from Kakashi, "but even I will admit my team is good. I thought that C mission would leave them wiped out but when it was over they asked for more. You will need a good team on the front and mine is it."

Gai did his nice guy pose. "Though an un-youthful view to take on his students," Gai said to them, "my eternally hip rival is right! I shall inform my students of this and tell them we will be right there fighting with him!"

"...My team will probably try to get out of it anyway they can," Asuma told him. "They fight to run away. Though I feel they can handle it, I will not force them to the front lines. I will give my answer after I ask them."

"Iruka," Sarutobi said, turning to him. "I want the school ready to be evacuated at a moment's notice. We will keep up the appearance of ignorance until the end. But at the first sign of trouble, you will get them to the security rooms under the monument."

"It will be done. If I may ask, how did you get this information?"

He grinned. "Your girlfriend, Anko. She sent a snake messenger to tell me. She is fine, sailing the ocean in the hands of a very capable captain in fact."

"Someone we know," Tiger asked. She had a suspicion who that is.

"Why yes, we all do. Uzumaki Naruto." Mikoto, Ox, Rat, Hawk, and Tiger laughed at the looks on all of their faces. "Seems he even has his own ship now and has proven he can handle it."

Kakashi grumbled about how he should have taken Anko's team.

—oo000oo—

Mikoto and Kushina, along with her eldest son's old team, walked out of the village. "Time to go introduce you to your godmother," Mikoto told her daughter.

"Godmother? You mean like Jiriaya is to Naruto?"

"Yeah. But she isn't a pervert," Mikoto said with a smile. "She is a great ninja...with a problem for gambling."

"...Is gambling fun," Kushina asked.

"Not really," Tiger said to the child.

"Then why does she do it?"

"Because some people think it is or that it is a way to make money. Other find it is an addiction, something they can't resist," Ox told her. "But I'm willing to bet she'll give it up to help your mom." He scooped the little girl up and placed her on his shoulder's.

"I never figure you as a family man, Ox," Rat said. "Big guy like you, I thought you would rather punch around a punching bag than hold something that could break so easily." Rat looked at Ox rest a hand on his shoulder before he was lightly shoved. He flew into the bushes, causing Kushina to laugh.

"Now remember, little girl," Hawk said, "don't grow up to be as crazy as these three are." Tiger tried to put him in a headlock but he used the Kawarimi no Jutsu to switch places with Rat.

"GAK," he yelled when he found he couldn't breath. Kushina just couldn't stop laughing. These were like her nutty aunt and uncles. And her mom said Itachi's old team was family.

"Mother, how come we never spent time with them until after..." Kushina clamped her mouth shut, that was a secret.

"Until what," Ox asked.

"...Kushina, you were not supposed to bring that up," Mikoto scolded. "But if anyone can be trusted with it, it is you four. My son came to visit. And he is now going to help Naruto."

All four of them look at her with wide eyes under their mask. "Itachi!?"

—oo000oo—

"So, how is he our friend again," Luffy asked.

"He used the Tsukiomi to talk to me in private," Jiriaya explained. "Naruto told me long ago why Itachi killed his family. I wish that it wasn't necessary but it had to be done. And now, Itachi is with Akatsuki to keep an eye on them. He intends to sabotage this mission somehow."

"...I'm still confused," Luffy said. "So, I think I shall press the 'I believe' button."

"Oh, you asked Kakuzu if he was after One Piece, what is it?"

Luffy smiled. "The greatest treasure of the last King of the Pirates. I have it in the safe if you want to see it." Jiriaya grinned, he always loved treasure.

—oo000oo—

"Team Eight, I have news for you," Kakashi told them. "We are taking part of an A rank mission, possible bordering S rank."

"WHAT," Sakura yelled. "Now I know you are trying to get us killed!"

"Wrong," Kakashi said. "I am trying my best to save our home. Konoha is going to be attacked by a traitor during the exams. While it is still possible to make chunin, it is unlikely. But we will do what we must to stop their attack. You three work great together and have beaten me in spars a few times. You can do this."

"...I still feel that we are over our heads," Shino said.

"Yeah, can we really do this," Kiba asked.

"...There is no way I am backing down, believe it," Sakura yelled, taking a page from Naruto's book. "This is our home and I will die before I fail it!"

Kiba grinned, he really could grow to like her. "A cub to scared to hunt does the pack no good."

"...I'm in as well," Shino said.

Kakashi gave them an eye smile. "I might grow to like you three after all. Now, where were we in training with the Chidori?" His voice held an evil mirth in it. Yeah, he could grow to like them but he was far from that yet.

—oo000oo—

"My students, I bring news that is both great and terrible," Gai called out.

They all straightened their backs. If even Gai-sensei thought it was bad, then it was truly something from a nightmare. "What is it, Gai-sensei," Lee asked.

"Our village is to be attacked soon. And unfortunately, because we must feign ignorance, the front lines must be fought by genin at first."

They all realized what that meant. War wasn't just coming, it was after them. "...Bring it on," Neji said. "I have to make sure there is a home for Hinata-sama to come back to."

"YOSH," came from Lee. "If my eternal rival is determined to fight them off, I shall to! I will show the world how great the dead last can be!"

"No way am I being left out of this," Tenten said eagerly. "Time to prove our mettle."

Gai smiled, giving them his nice guy pose, before breaking down into tears. "The youthfulness of this generation is so beautiful."

—oo000oo—

"Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, I have something important I need to ask you."

"What is it, Asuma-sensei," Ino asked.

"There is a battle coming and we have a chance to be in the spot where the heaviest action is. But I want to know what you guys think," Asuma told them.

"...Naturally, we want to be somewhere else," Ino said.

"Where is it taking place at," Shikamaru asked.

"Here in Konoha," Asuma told him. That even made Choji stop eating. "A man named Orochimaru plans to attack during the Chunin exams. And he wants nothing less than the total destruction of our village and our families dead."

They were silent before Choji spoke up. "Then we fight."

"Choji, man, I read about Orochimaru, that he is a mean guy is an understatement. He is a Sannin," Shikamaru told him. "We go through with this then we might meet him on the battle field."

"Then I will finally prove how strong I am," Choji said with determination. "This is our home. And I will protect it."

They two looked away from him in shame. "Choji...I can't. I'm afraid," Ino said.

"There isn't a point to fighting for the village if we die to do it," Shikamaru said.

"Then why fight if we will not fight for this," Choji asked them. "Asuma-sensei, I will go with you on this."

He nodded. "Ino, Shikamaru, your choice is yours. Choji, we will be at all of the test even of we are not taking part in them."

"I will meet you there, Asuma-sensei. Well, bye guys," he said to his friends.

"Where are you going," Ino asked.

"...I think I will go talk to my mom, let her know how much I love her. Then...uh, I will go have a salad, like she is always telling me to. Maybe visit Naruto's favorite ramen stand. I never have tried ramen before and they have over thirty flavors."

"Go on, Choji," Asuma told him. "You two as well, I don't have anything for you today." He turned and walked away, proud about Choji.

"...If we don't do this, than what the hell are we fighting for," Shikamaru asked.

"You think anyone will think less of us about this?"

"...I think less of us for this," he told her. "You know, I can think of the exact words a certain blond idiot would say. 'Ha! Like I would back down from this!' Him and Sasuke would shout that to the world and charge at Orochimaru himself."

Ino sighed. "No doubt even Hinata would stand up for our home."

Shikamaru stood up, "Asuma-sensei, I'll go with you as well."

"What changed your mind?"

"...Something my father said once. 'It isn't living, it is living with yourself'. I won't let Choji fight alone." Asuma nodded to him. "...I think I'll go tell my mom how much I love her as well. ...And maybe let her set me up on that blind date she has been talking about. Least I can do."

Ino watched him walk away. "...I can't t let them face this alone, they'd be lost without me."

"I'm sure they would," Asuma replied. "Maybe if you hurry, you can convince his mom to let you be his date. I mean, you haven't had a date before, right?"

"No," she replied. Standing up, she walked home. She'd talk to her mom who would talk to his. And with how he walked, she could be ready for it by then.

—oo000oo—

Iruka sat down at Icharuka and ordered a bowl and a glass of saki. "You look down," Teuchi stated. He grinned, "Missing your ramen eating partner? Or maybe or girlfriend, Anko?"

"Both," Iruka replied. "I can't wait for them to get back. I miss them so much. It is boring without them here causing some insanity or other."

"That is true," Ayame said. "But it was their mission and their choice. I never saw Naruto as happy until he told us he was heading out to see."

"He must be ecstatic now," Iruka said with a grin. "He is captain of his own ship."

They grinned at that. "Here, it is on the house," Teuchi said. "In honor of our favorite customer." He raised a glass to the picture of Naruto after he had eaten a hundred bowls in one sitting. He looked greener than a cucumber but couldn't have been happier. Well, now he was.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I do plan on having Tsunade take the title Hokage. I even already have it thought out on why she will come back. Now, to make it clear, the Raid Hunters, the fishman and merfolk, are there because they smelled Hakari's blood. Recognized as the blood of a fishman, they followed it to help her. They were formed because, like I said, Sahuagin attack them without mercy. There is a history there but that doesn't matter. Not in this story at least.

Now a Sahuagin is more fish than human like. With three webbed fins on the back of males and two on females, they look vastly similar. They have two toned skin. A dark green on their backs with a pale white on their stomachs. Their hands are clawed as well as their feet. Gill on their neck, they have razor sharp fangs and a fish like tail. There are black stripes on their sides that fades with age. Some are born with four arms instead of two. And others are even more 'monstrous'. There are mutants that look like merfolk and fishman. Though rare, these 'malenti' are just as hateful as the rest of their races and as vicious. Maybe even more so. They often use spears, tridents, nets, and knives as they are easiest to use in the water.

It would make since that Haku knows how to use a zanbatou, doesn't it? He had to be a hunter nin for some reason. And the only reference was 'turn your sails to home' from the song Hoist the Colors High.


	17. Chapter 17

Zabuza looked to his left at the thirteen fishman and merfolk. Hakari had said the latter were peaceful but the looks on their faces didn't say so. "Ready," asked the one closest to him. Even underwater they were very clear with what they said.

"Ready to die but never will," he replied. "These over sized fish are going to have some fun with my sword."

The clown fish like fishman sneered. "I doubt you will be of much use. That sword is probably useless in the water."

"And yet, I am still keeping up with you," Zabuza told him. "I come from a land where we fought in water as often as on it or on land." His hand gripped the handle of the Zanbatou. "Just wait and see," he had a grin under his bandages. It had been a while since he had fought like this.

"Stupid weak..." the clown fish started to reply.

"Enough," Hakari told him. "What is your problem!?"

"We don't need him coming with us," he yelled. "Him or the boy! They are all but useless here!"

"You would know about useless right algae eater," she barbed to hunter. "Wait until you see them fight." She looked at Haku and Zabuza, the only two that could go with them. The others would have been a burden.

"Yeah, give them a chance," a mermaid said giving a smile to Zabuza. "I've been on land enough time to know not to expect weakness from a human."

—oo000oo—

Gaara sat with his legs crossed and his hands in the Tora handsign. He was constantly flinching as the creatures outside pounded away on his sand. While Kankuro was supporting Temari. The strain of keeping that jutsu up for so long was getting to her.

"Damn it, guppy, when are you getting back," he asked the air and water.

—oo000oo—

"Sir," a sahuagin said to its leader. "We have received word from our spy. He has found the trail of the girl and is following it. She will be returned to us to finish the battle."

The largest Sahuagin there scratched the head of his hammerhead. "...Our meal stuck in their sand egg shell and the ritual interrupted... The coliseum is in ruins, brought down by a fishwoman barely hatched from her egg... The chaos, Umberlee would be pleased with this. Find her and bring her back! Offer any treasure we have! I will feast on the her flesh!"

—oo000oo—

"How are we going to do this," the Raid Leader, a marlin like fishman named Chou, asked. "This is your revenge, girl."

"...Not two months ago, I would say go charging in with our blades leading the way. But I've learned in that time."

The clown fish, Pocky, scoffed. "That was good enough for our parents and their parents before them. The fought with honor and died with it."

"Key word on the die," Hakari told him. "Look over that ridge, there must be hundreds of them down there, just itching for a chance to get at us. Remember, we are not just doing this to fill our egos. There are men and women in there that need rescuing."

"They shouldn't have gotten captured," Pocky muttered.

"Don't mind him, child," the mermaid, Alidia, told her. "He had to play host to humans several times and is clumsy with such a softer species. What do you propose?"

"That we give them me, several of me," Hakari said, looking to Haku and Zabuza.

—oo000oo—

The two guards on the furthest from the gate were playing a game of bones. "I get your potion of the girl when we get her again," one said triumphantly. Before blood blossomed from his chest. A spear had been thrown and went right through his chest. The other spun around and saw the fishwoman.

"How fortunate! I can have you to myself!" He pulled the spear from his partner and swam at him. Only to find several of her all grinning at him and hefting spears. "Whale dung..." His blood soon joined his friend's.

The clones swam to different parts and surrendered to the guards. "Sir! I have captured the woman," one guard said, rushing in pushing Hakari ahead of him.

"Good," the priest said. "You will be an excellent feast, girl."

"Good news, holiness, very good news," another guard said, bringing Hakari forward. "I have her! I have her!

He looked between the two and scowled. "You idiots! One must be a fake! Remove their disguise!"

They grabbed their hair and pulled. But it was very real. The priest grabbed the collar of the closest. ""What is going on here!?"

"Making you work for your meal, you over sized algae eater," the clone said with a smile. The priest opened his mouth and bit off her head. But it was only a water clone.

"You're next," he shouted to the second.

"Oh no, don't turn me into water as well," this Hakari mocked. Outside, the sound of fighting broke out as the captured water clones and the hidden one started fighting the guards.

The priest growled and grabbed her, raising her up, and bit her in half.

—oo000oo—

Zabuza brought the Zanbatou down on the door to one of the cells, breaking it. "Go on, get out!" They were setting everything in the dungeon free, adding to the total chaos. He had seen so many odd fish here it amazed him. Including a pair of what he was told to be strong arm dolphins.

Alidia broke open the last cell. "Done down here."

"Then let's head back to the fighting," Zabuza yelled back. He ready would have to thank the person that invented the water breathing jutsu.

They got to the top floor and found the Raiders fighting with the former prisoners to kill the sahuagin. He spotted one try to get the drop on Haku and his first instincts were to help him. But he knew better, Haku could handle it.

The Ice Zanbatou cut the creature in half even as he turned back around. "You look like the warden here, where are the humans!?"

A sahuagin with four arms and weapons laughed. "The weaklings are in the sacrificial chamber, waiting to be killed! You want them, you are going to have to fight through me, little human."

"Gladly," Haku replied. He bunched his legs up and jumped. The Sahuagin could hardly believe he was moving that smoothly in the water. But he believed it when he had to block with one of his knives.

Haku leaned back to avoid the trident and kicked him in the chin. Shattered fanged were spit from the monster's mouth. It growled as is started spinning a weighted net and threw it at him. "I tire of this," Haku told him as ice speared from his hand and began impaling several of the creatures. "Chou, the captives are with the priest!"

Said fishman had just twisted the head of a sahuagin completely around. He was bleeding from a bite wound but over all, was in good shape. "You, the large one, and the girl go ahead! Pocky, Alidia, follow them! We'll finish up here!"

The five ran down the corridor of the fort. The sounds of fighting was starting to decrease, which made them uneasy. A giant lobster burst from an alcove and attacked them. "I can handle this, you go on ahead," Alidia shouted.

"Stay alive," Pocky ordered. "Run, weaklings," he told the three of them. They turned down a left passage then a right. Until finally they came to the chamber. To find the lobster already holding up a defeated Alidia.

"Let her go," Pocky yelled.

The priest grinned and waved his hand. It let her go and she drifted to the ground to be caught by Pocky. "You damn fool, I ordered you to stay alive."

"Hmm. Sorry but..." she told him in a weak voice. Before she stabbed him. "I won't take orders from a weakling like you." Pocky and the others looked at her in disbelief as he fell to the floor.

Pocky mangaged to call her, "Malenti," before dying.

She turned to the priest. "As promised, the girl and also her friends. Now my treasure." She was tossed a bag of gems.

"What by the Maiden is going on," Haku demanded.

"Can't follow? I killed Pocky, and made sure you three were alive to get to my leader. As he said," she grinned, showing off fangs, "I am a malenti, a type of sahuagin."

"Bring me the girl, kill the other two," the priest said to the many hidden Sahuagin. In a wave, they charged at them.

"Water Dragon no jutsu!"

"Ice Prison no jutsu!" In seconds, all that ran at them were dead.

"What...What power is this!? We are Umberlee's chosen! We can't be defeated!" He turned to Alidia. "Get them, bring me their heads or I will take your's!"

She swallowed and looked back at them. Zabuza grinned, "What is wrong? Now that you have seen us fight, you aren't that confident? Wasn't it you that was eager to see us before, traitor? Or maybe I should call you weakling, as you obviously aren't strong enough to follow through with your plans." He held the Zanbatou at arm's length, pointed at her in challenge.

She scowled and gnashed her fangs. "I will eat your heart, _landling_!" She noticed the two were no longer staring at her but at something behind her. Before she turned around, an orange and white arm wrapped around her chest and another was forced through her back, ribcage, and chest.

"You missed my heart," Pocky told her. "I always knew there was a reason I didn't like you." Alidia was too busy staring at the hole in her chest and her heart in his hand. "Now for the other one," Pocky said, crushing the heart and pulling his arm back to destroy her second heart.

But the two hammerheads by the priest had been held back to long with blood in the water and broke their chains. They slammed into the two of them. "Hakari, save Pocky," Zabuza yelled as he went after the priest. "Haku, go get the others!"

Haku nodded, worry etching his face under his mask. He ran from the room and found the sphere of sand and some sahuagin still trying to get at those inside. "Ice Shenbon no Jutsu," he said as they flew at them. Now water holds a very distinct characteristic. It is the only substance on earth that increase in size when cold. And the ice shenbons was so cold they were freezing the ice water behind them as they flew. The sahuagin writhed in agony as the water in their bodies exploded outward.

He went to the sphere and knocked on it. When he got no answer, he began to worry and froze the sand. Hefting his zanbatou, he swung it like a hammer at the frozen section. It shattered and floated up to the ceiling. "Anyone alive in here!?" He ducked a tendril of sand. "Hey, it is me, Hunter!"

Kankuro stopped Gaara from killing him. "Where is the guppy!?"

"She is saving a friend of ours right now. We are going to the surface. Anyone not ready for this?" Temari was leaning on Kankuro and was the one everyone looked to. "I'll carry her." Placing a hand on the ground, he walked in as an ice spire grew from that point. It speared the ceiling and broke through it. It was hollow inside with a set of stairs leading to the surface. "Go on, I will go get my sensei and meet you there!"

He ran back, still carrying Temari. "Zabuza-sama! We have a way out this way!" He raised his hand and ice lanced from it to the priest, taking him in the chest.

"You heard him, get in there," Zabuza yelled to Hakari and Pocky. She was supporting the seven foot fishman easily with her five six frame. Casting a glance at the still screaming malenti, he ran to the stairs.

Haku was the last in, sealing it as he went. He glanced at the woman in his arms. "You going to survive?"

"...This is...nothing. I once had to keep... my baby brother from crying and... destroying our home with his sand," she replied.

He nodded and looked back. He prayed to Kami that Chou and the rest of his Hunters were well.

—oo000oo—

Chou saw the ceiling was cracking and smiled a toothy grin. "Looks like the girl's plan worked! Fall back and get ready! This is going to be fun to see!"

—oo000oo—

Zabuza stood on the surface, removed his bandages, and bit his thumb. "Summoning no jutsu!" At first nothing appeared. But then a moan shook the water and a tentacles broke the surface. "The Sahuagin temple below us," Zabuza told it. "Have fun and eat hearty!" He could swear the glowing eye the size of the Morning Song steering wheel grinned with eagerness. The giant squid then sunk below and attacked the sunken temple.

—oo000oo—

Back on the Morning Song, Pocky was growling at a certain masked ninja. "Damn it, that hurt!"

"Shut up and let me bandage it," Haku yelled back. He was tightly wrapping some sea weed Hakari provided around the stump that was Pocky's forearm.

Chou laughed at it and looked at his hunters. They were all wounded but none as bad as Pocky. "HAROOK!" They returned the cheer. "Pocky, tell me, where is my love, Alidia?"

Haku froze at that and continued after a moment. "She was your lover?"

"Yes... Pocky, tell me."

He looked down at the human in front of him and the one leaning against the mast with the sword on his back. "She fought with honor."

Chou dropped his head. "I see... We shall raise a funeral pier for her later," he told his hunters. "For now, we shall celebrate! The Sahuagin will no longer plague our homes!"

"HAROOK," they cheered again. They all dived in the water and brought back bottles of wine, food, and other things to celebrate with.

Naruto turned to Zabuza. "I missed one hell of a battle, eh?"

"One full of adventure and intrigue," Zabuza replied. "The end is what I enjoyed the most."

"How did she die," Naruto asked.

"Attacked the priest on his sharks. We weren't able to get to her in time."

"I am sorry for his lost but I don't think I should tell him that," Naruto said. "He is putting on a brave face for this."

"Then play a song at the memorial," Zabuza replied.

—oo000oo—

Chou was on the deck while Sasuke stood on the water next to their unused longboat. He held a torch in his hand and the boat held longs and tinder. As Naruto started playing his notes, he tossed it in.

"Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. It's not warm when she's away. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone and she's always gone when she's away.

"Wonder this time where she's gone. Wonder if she's gone to stay. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone and this house just ain't no home anytime she's gone away.

"I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

"Yeah! Oh leave the young things alone, cause ain't no sunshine when she's gone. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone. Only darkness everyday. Ain't no sunshine when she's gone and this house just ain't no home anytime she goes away. Anytime she goes away. Anytime she goes away. Anytime she goes away."

Zabuza looked over to Chou and muttered, "No way could I keep my face that trained." Chou had his chest puffed out and sadness in his eyes but not on his face. His features were displayed on the other fishmen but the merfolk were openly weeping. "A warriors death, those that die and those that lived," he stated. He looked to Pocky. "And of you, algae eater? What becomes the crippled in a warriors society.

"I was fortunate enough for Umberlee, the Mistress of the Waves, to see fit to give me two." He looked at his arm. "I think I will attach a pike to this one. Never without a weapon then. ...I noticed you did not ask me why, weakling."

"Don't need to," Zabuza replied. "This will die with myself, Haku, and Hakari."

"Thank you, landling. In a way...we all loved her. I will not shatter that image." Pocky walked away, off to cry his own tears for a far different reason.

"You two," Chou said to Haku and Zabuza. "You have my people's thanks." With a final bow, he turned back to Hakari. "So, ready to return to your people, girl?"

"Huh?"

"You are a fishman, so you should come with us," Chou said.

"Thanks, Raid Leader," she said with a nod. "But I must turn down your offer. I know where my home is and we are heading to it. But I will visit your village in the future."

"Suit yourself," Chou said. "If ever you change your mind, you and your crew will have a hero's welcome here." They all turned and dived off into the water, not looking back.

"...So guppy, sticking with us humans eh," Kankuro asked.

"Well, kind of have to, toy boy," she countered. "My home is far from here and Naruto already said he would take me to it. In exchange, I am the First Mate of this ship. Now what to do with you?"

"That is something we need to discuss," Naruto stated. "What to do with all of you?"

"What do you mean," Baki asked.

"We can always eat them," Hakari joked. No one found it funny.

"I mean that I doubt Heero will be satisfied being a deck hand but that is all he will be while I am captain of the Morning Song. And his crew is loyal to him."

"Ah, I see, trouble in the ranks," Gaara said.

"...Well, you lousy free loaders," Hakari shouted to the crew of thirty that now were on her ship. "Get us sailing or it will be hell to pay if you don't!" She turned back to Naruto. "I doubt they will cause trouble this soon so name the heading, Naruto."

Men were scrabbling everywhere, getting in position. "Hoist anchor! Lower the sails to half mast! We turn to starboard!"

"Delay that order," Heero shouted.

"Delay that delay," Naruto replied. "What are you doing on _my_ ship giving orders?"

"Your ship, my crew. Lad, I know you became captain because you were forced to. Let experience rule here and I will get us to our next destination."

"...There can only be one captain on a ship," Naruto stated. His friends thought he would blow up, he had worked long and hard to get as good as he was. "...Fine, I leave the Morning Song in your hands unless I see that your leader ship is not good enough. Here is the chart." He pointed to a spot just pass Black Hills, "This is our location. This is our destination. I expect to reach it... Oh, fair winds and seas abiding, in the next two days." He turned and walked below deck. He still had the captains quarters as the Armory and the key to it was still on him.

As he laid down in his hammock, Hakari stormed in. "What was that!?"

"I'll take it back in... an hour, two tops."

"...What do you know that know one else does," she said, her eyes narrowed.

"Our current heading and the heading we are supposed to be taking. By the end of those two hours, he'll be begging to know why we have completely turned around." The ship groaned as Temari started swinging her fan again. "...We might actually have to worry about a serious loss in distance," Naruto stated. "But they will learn."

—oo000oo—

"Ragh! Bring up your captain," Heero yelled to Sasuke. Who just sighed. "I believe that would be you."

"Don't get short with me boy! Bring Naruto up here now!"

"Fine, fine, Long John Silver." He pushed off the barrel he was on and saw Hakari snickering. "He predicted this, didn't he?"

"Oh yeah."

With another sigh, he went down and found Naruto taking a nap in his hammock. "Hey, Mon Capitan, you were right."

Naruto shot up, "I love hearing that." With a final swing on it, he hopped off and went back up. "Problem, Captain Heero?"

"Why is it I cannot hold a heading?"

"Because there are cross currents everywhere," Naruto supplied. "Nothing follows a set pattern here in the Grand Line. I'm sure you have already noticed your compass doesn't work."

Heero held it up, it was spinning around almost to fast to see. "I noticed. We never looked at it because we were following you. That hawk always kept us informed of where you were."

"And it is easy to follow even on the Grand line. But to lead is much harder. Because you have to know precisely where you are heading to get to where you need to. Like I know."

"So you that is why it was you instead of one of the Jonin..." He sighed. "Out foxed by a genin."

"Ranks are just that," Naruto told him. He looked up at the sky. "You, at the wheel, bring us about a hundred and seventy two degrees. Heero, I am taking command of my ship again. We have lost speed and time. Time that once lost cannot be made up. Temari, you better not be tired, you are going to help make up that time. Yugito-chan, help her."

"Sure, Naruto-kun," she said before standing by the other blond. "Hinata-chan, would you be so kind as to take your rifle and take the crow's nest?"

"S, Sure, N, Naruto-kun."

"Glad to have you back," Anko said.

"Far too calm without you, super brat," Zabuza said.

"Of course. Heero, thank you for taking care of my ship while I finally got some sleep. My chart please." Heero gave it back to him. "Now, bring me that horizon." He turned to Hakari. "Have you set up a schedule so that there is always someone watching out for pirates?"

"Already done and awaiting your approval," Hakari said, holding out a rolled up piece of paper.

"You got it," Naruto said without looking. "I trust you. On other news, how does the company look to our food stocks?"

"As is, we can sail for a seek on full stomachs," she told him.

"And...We will only need two," Naruto said. "Heero, when we get to the island, I will go about getting you a new ship."

"I have high standards," Heero replied.

"With that piece of junk you called a ship," Naruto asked, sounding shocked. He couldn't help but the play on words. "I will make sure it is exactly as the Evening Star was for you."

—oo000oo—

Temari dropped down into her hammock face down that evening, worn out, and wishing she could tear her arms off. Naruto never stopped until the sun set and wouldn't let her stop either. And it infuriated her that Yugito could get a similar effect, although slower and weaker, with just a few handsigns and a wave of her hand. It even lasted thirty seconds so she had time between each one.

"Tired," Hunter asked her.

"And sore," she replied. She tensed when she felt his hands on her back but relaxed as he began rubbing the muscles there, loosening them easily. "You are good," she moaned. "If there wasn't this cutesy out there right now I like, I would have to make you mine."

"I will take that as a complement... So, what is he like?"

"Kind, soft spoken, not really willing to hurt others in any dangerous way. But he can fight like hell. His face is a bit on the feminine but I think it only makes him more gorgeous."

"Gorgeous eh? Well, maybe I have a face just as good looking," Hunter flirted.

"Nope, not interested. I am going to find him again and then..." She grinned widely as she thought of all the things she had planned for herself and Haku.

"Why don't you just take a look, if I don't look as good as him, if not better, then I will never bring it up again and I will still give back rubs whenever you need them."

"Done deal," she said, assured of victory. She turned around on her hammock and faced him. "And you better not be doing this to get the chance to kiss me."

"Only if you want me to," Hunter assured her.

Temari reached up and grabbed the mask. Undoing the straps, she removed it. "See, no where... HAKU!?" There was a thud as she glomped him and they fell to the deck. "What are you doing here!? Do they know you replaced their hunter nin!? Or are you there hunter nin!?"

"I am part of this crew from the get go. I took off my headband to relax. Now, what did I say about kissing?" He didn't have to say it twice. Temari locked lips with him right then and there.

"Ahem," came from one of the crew members. "While I don't mind, I am sure your brother Gaara will. Might I suggest a better place than here?" They grinned at him ruefully.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: Who ever saw that it was Alidia that was the malenti instead of Pocky, here's a cookie. I know that Pocky seemed the most likely but this works out better. As for you who thought it was Pocky, you really guessed wrong.

Ain't no sunshine by Bill Withers was the song this chapter.

Ah, isn't it cute, Temari glomping Haku. A tom boy after the fem guy, lol! I wonder how long I will have them making trips to the med lab or somewhere until they are caught by Gaara, Kankuro, and/or Baki. The trouble I already see is huge. Again, go ahead and request songs, and I will try to find a spot they fit in.


	18. Chapter 18

Things were just too serious for Naruto's taste. He needed something wild and unpredictable to happen. Right now in fact. Going to Anko's hammock and chest, he found the wanted picture of one Orochimaru and he pinned it to the main mast. He walked to the med lab and found exactly what he was hoping for, one of Haku's spare mask. By now, he had grabbed the attention of a few people there.

Naruto walked out on the deck soon to be followed by another wearing the mask.

"Who are you," the clone asked.

"Who? Who is but the form following the function of what. And what I am is a man in a mask," the real Naruto replied. Yugito and Hinata glanced at each other and smirked. Naruto always had to break out of the routine.

"I can see that," the clone said. Everyone was watching the conversation now.

"I'm not questioning your powers of observation. I am merely remarking on the paradox of asking a masked man 'who he is'."

"Oh...right."

"But on this most auspicious of nights, permit me then, in slue of the more common place subricay, to suggest the character of this dramatics persona." He flared out his coat, showing off his gun and knives.

"Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition."

He spun around and threw two kunai into the eyes of Orochimaru's wanted poster. "The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous."

He gave a light laugh. "Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it is my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V."

The clone nodded his head with the expression that said a long, drawn out 'righhhht'. "You're a nut job, aren't you?"

"I'm quite sure they will say so," Naruto replied.

"I will," Sasuke said off hand. Causing the two actors to start shaking then give a full laugh.

Naruto dispelled the clone and took the mask off. "I feel better."

Hunter came up and took his mask back. "Next time ask."

—oo000oo—

"AGH," Ino cried out as a bolt of lightning was thrown off course and nearly hit her.

"Look out," Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru jumped down next to her, picked her up, and jumped away. "This is nuts! Where are the ANBU!? Oh shit." Several sound ninja surrounded them.

The lead one walked forward a step but froze. "Why... Why can't I move?" His head was forced to turn to the side where he saw Shikamaru.

"I am why. Kiba, Ino! Move!" He released his jutsu just as Kiba jumped again. Choji rolled over them, killing them not a moment later. "Damn... Shino, how are you standing?"

Said bug user ducked a kunai slash from another Sound ninja. "Bit...busy." His insects flew from his coat and began covering the eyes of every sound ninja, biting them. He caught the man's wild swing and guided it right to his neck. "Better. I am fine."

He spoke too soon. He received a kick to the chest from a taller ninja with a narrow face. "Ku ku ku. To think I have found so many of the next clan heads here. Even the next Ino-Shika-Cho trio." Orochimaru couldn't believe his luck. Even if Konoha threw off the attack like it looked like they were, he would still cripple it.

"Chidori!" Sakura slammed her hand through the man's chest, expended after that one shot. "I... I did it..."

"You did it all right," Orochimaru said from off to the side. "You tore my shirt and even cut a few bones. I am impressed, I never would have thought that a child like yourself could have done that."

"How..." The Orochimaru her are was in turned to mud. "Kawarimi..."

"The simple is often the best," Orochimaru told her. "Now, all of you must..."

"Eight Trigrams of Divination! Sixty four palms!" Neji hit him after being thrown by Lee and guided by Tenten's ninja wire. "Two Palms! Four Palms! Eight Palms! Sixteen Palms! Thirty two Palms! Sixty four Palms!" He jumped back, ready for the counter attack.

"I am really getting tired of being interrupted," he growled. He flared chakra through his body and returned it to normal. Taking a deep breath, he looked around. They were still in the stadium. He had had to come in as a civilian because the Kazekage had decided not to attend. Meaning he was no where near to where he could kill Sarutobi.

Turning back to the genin around him, he saw most of them shaking in fear. "Tell where Uchiha Sasuke is and I might spare your lives."

"Liar," Kiba called his bluff. "Even if you weren't, we can't really tell you."

"My cousin's team has literally sailed away," Neji stated, trying to by time. He knew they couldn't win. "They left six months ago to a place across the ocean."

"So he is at the Land of Snow," Orochimaru stated.

"No," Shino said, catching what Neji was planning. "They sail south to the equator."

Orochimaru widened his eyes. "There is no way a genin, even an Uchiha, can survive passing through there!"

"Hey, tell the Hokage, not us," Kiba taunted.

"Why not," Sakura asked. "What happened to Naruto and his team," Sakura asked.

"Well, I might as well tell you," Orochimaru said. "The calm belt is where several sea monsters live. I don't mean several over the whole thing, I mean several every mile. No ship can get through there. In one piece that is. Sad as it is, most likely the Kyuubi brat, Uchiha Sasuke, and his other team member and sensei are dead."

They all straightened. "What do you mean 'Kyuubi brat'," Ino demanded.

"Ku ku ku, I forgot you don't know." Orochimaru started to laugh. "Think about it! How can one man, even the Hokage, beat one of the nine Bijuu!? The strongest no less!? He couldn't kill him but he could seal his soul. And that is what he did, at the cost of his own life, he sealed the soul of the Kyuubi no Yoko into his own child." He laughed again as he got a reaction from even the Aburame. "Don't tell me you don't see the resemblance!? But not that it matters. Naruto is dead and soon, you all will be!" His neck stretched out to tear out the throats of the closest to him.

Only to have his body be grabbed and pulled. His head was slammed into a wall and then another. Looking behind him, Orochimaru saw an ANBU wearing an Ox mask smirking at him. "Orochimaru," Ox said. "You are here by sentenced to death!"

"Like even someone as strong as you can kill me!"

"Assassination technique, Earth rising slash!" Rat tore through the floor, a katana in hand, trying to slice off his head.

Orochimaru pulled his neck in so fast that he threw himself and ox to the ground. Looking behind him, he saw Rat crouching, he blade in his left hand, level with the tiled floor and his right hand on the floor. "...I know that... Itachi used that."

"Who do you think taught him it," Rat asked.

"...Summoning no jutsu!" From the floor, three coffins started to rise.

"Beast Ninpou!" Tiger yelled. Fur covered her skin in a tiger pattern. Her feet became padded at her toes. A tail extended from her back and touched the ground. Her hands became claws and fangs grew from her mouth.

Bunching the muscles in her legs, she shot forward, destroying them. The incomplete bodies of the former Hokage fell to the ground and began to crumble. In their place was revealed three genin that wore Sound headbands. The two boys were bleeding heavily and wouldn't last long. The girl was holding her broken arm while pressing against cracked ribs.

"That is low, traitor," Tiger said. "Not only do you refuse to leave the dead in peace, you were willing to sacrifice the innocent to do it. Hawk, take them all out of here."

Several men wearing the same mask appeared and three of them picked up the injured genin. He looked to the others. "We need to leave now!" They ran.

"You are going to regret not keeping him here," Orochimaru told them.

"No we won't," Ox informed him. "We will not be involved long enough for them to."

"You see, we were just sent to find you," Rat stated.

"And now, to get the main contestants here," Tiger said, pulling on a ninja wire tied to her shirt. Not ten seconds later, the section they were in was cracked.

"Orochimaru," Tsunade yelled! "You were the one that killed my student!"

His face went pale. He knew what she meant. Uzumaki Kushina had died not long after child birth, holding her son. She died because a kunai had been driven into her heart by him. He swallowed, "If she had just given me the child..."

"You sick bastard," she yelled at him. "You are a damn pedophile!"

"I just wanted the Kyuubi," he yelled back. "I am not that gay!" His face was blank for a moment. "I think I said that wrong." He shook himself back to the present in time to avoid the fist of Tsunade. "You will have to... That isn't right." He looked down and saw two hands sticking out of his chest and stomach. What worst was that they were the hands of genin.

"Dual Chidori," Shino and Kiba said from either side of him.

Orochimaru didn't flicker away, didn't turn to mud, nothing except he bled. '...My left lung has been destroyed as well as my liver. They barely missed killing me right then instead of later...' He swung his arms back. "You damn sons of bitches! I will not die here!" His hands flashed through hands signs and the back of his shirt ripped. "Hydra no Jutsu!" The eight snake heads tore apart the roof over the bleachers as they all turned to the two tired genin. _**"DIE!" **_They all dived at the two.

Hawk flashed from one head to another delivering a clawed kick to them. They all pulled back in pain. He picked the two up and jumped like he really was his name sake. He flew over the walls and several buildings before dropping.

"Orochimaru, we are you opponent," Sarutobi said, stepping up in his battle armor. "Summoning no Jutsu," he yelled as well as Tsunade. King Enma appeared as did Katsuyu.

"Finally making up for your mistake, eh," Enma asked.

"Thirteen long years in the making," Sarutobi stated. "You should not have killed Kushina, Orochimaru. At the time, I hoped the snake symbol on it had been placed there. But when all that happened, I realized it was you. I should have realized it was you right from the start. But why didn't you take Naruto when you had the chance?"

The snake heads started to laugh. "I never had the chance... Even as an infant, a person obviously recognizes his mother. The brat grew fangs and five tails right then. He nearly tore my arm off before I threw him off and ran. Not the highest point in my life."

Sarutobi grinned. "Nor the lowest if what Jiriaya heard is correct. 'And that muffin you are eating. Before you came in and took a bite out of it, I dropped it on the floor and put it back'. Is it true you screamed like a little girl with a scraped knee?"

All eight heads, Tsunade, and even Katsuyu dropped their mouths. The fighting all ceased and silence reigned the battle field as they waited for him to deny it. _** "How the hell did he find that out!?"**_

"Katsuyu, while he is distracted!" The slug heaved back and spat a stream of acid forward, killing one of the heads.

Enma changed into his staff form and Sarutobi grabbed it and jumped. While the heads writhed in agony, he slammed the end down as hard as he could, crushing the skull it hit. Realizing what was happening to him, they started to fight back. All of a sudden, they curled in on themselves. The strain had finally proven to much to keep up with his dying body. They sunk back into his back and he fell to his knees. "...No... I will...not be stopped...here." He coughed a large amount of blood up.

"How are you even still alive," Tsunade growled. She knew where the two had hit him. A person doesn't live long without a liver. "Katsuyu, finish him!" The slug raised her upper body and brought it down on him.

But before he was crushed, what looked like a large white snake shot from there. It fell to the field and looked up as the snail crushed that half of the stadium. "Thisss isss not over! I ssshall dessstroy this village!"

"Not when I mount your damn head on a wall," Tsunade said, jumping down. The snake looked at her and then around for an escape. There really wasn't one.

"Lord Hokage, the school has successfully been evacuated," Iruka shouted as he landed a little higher up. "What the hell is that thing!?"

Orochimaru lunged at him. "Your body isss mine!" Tsunade ran to help but knew she wouldn't get there in time.

—oo000oo—

"Heya," Luffy said, raising his hand as he walked into the chamber. Not the sort of welcome you expect from the most wanted man in the Grand Line. But he is nothing you expect.

"Luffy," Vivi cried out when her friend stepped into the castle. She ran and jumped on him, giving him a hug. "You have been gone for far too long! You have to tell be your adventures!"

"Yes young man, I would like to hear them as well," the aging King Cobra said.

"Sure, but I want to introduce you to the rest of the crew first," Luffy said with a huge smile. "Guys, come on in!" They entered, with those that hadn't been her before looking around in slight wonder. "Everyone, my friends Vivi and King Cobra! Vivi, King Cobra, you already know my original crew. The others are Franky and Brook." The two gave stiff bows.

"And what about the old man," Vivi asked.

Jiriaya appeared in front of her in a flash. He was on his knee, holding one of her hands. "My dear princess, I am but a humble hermit, in search of my godson. These kind men and women have agreed to take me with them as they sail the Grand Line in hopes that we will be reunited. "It...hurts to know my cute son is alone on this ocean so far from home." He made a few tears tears drop from his eyes.

"You poor man," Vivi said, trying to comfort him.

"You are truly as kind hearted as they described you. A goddess among men," he said giving her hand a kiss. "Oh, what I have done in a pass life to deserve this meeting must have truly been saint like...OW!"

Nami had grabbed him by his ear and was dragging him back. "Come on, Romeo, you won't find anyone that will bed you here," she told him.

"Hey! Hey, let go! I was so close!"

Luffy sweat drop as she dragged him back. "What he said is somewhat true. His godson, Naruto, is on the Grand Line with his own ship last by the name of Ebon Hawk. But we heard from some bounty hunters that met him, he had renamed it to the Morning Song. They are actually from the West Blue on a mission. You see, they are looking for a person that has been creating these fake Devil Fruit that kills whoever eats them. I don't suppose you two have heard of anything, have you?"

They shared a look. "Actually, we have more than heard," King Cobra said.

—oo000oo—

Jiriaya blinked when he saw it. It was almost exactly like the one he had brought to Konoha thirteen years ago. "Another Devil Fruit," he asked.

"A fake," Robin stated after she got a look at it. "The color is wrong and the swirls go the wrong way." She sniffed it. "A sweet sent. No real devil fruit is sweet. Where did you get this?"

"A man that calls himself Davey Jones presented it to us as a gesture of good will," Vivi told them. "We actually knew something wasn't right about it because of which one it is."

"Which is it," Jiriaya asked.

"...The Oto Oto Fruit. But we know that went missing several years ago."

"You ain't just whistling Dixie," Jiriaya stated. "So this is one of the fake... Summoning no jutsu!" A smallish toad, no bigger than a turkey appeared. "Hey, Homura," he said to the cross scared toad. "I need your help."

He looked up to him then the fruit. "This it then?"

"How did you know?"

"You have never summoned me before, Jiriaya. Not many do unless it involves plants." The toad hopped over to it. "Hmm... Grown on a tropical island. The skin has darkened from the sun and the smell of salt is heavy on it... There is something else... This was nurtured in blood."

Taking his Tonto from his back, he cut into it. When he came to where the pit should have been, he only found blood. "The tree this grew from is being fed blood and chemicals to produce them. But there is something else. I know of the Devil Fruit and this is almost exactly like it. But their scent is different. The blood, though, carries the real scent in it. It is from a Devil Fruit eater."

"What else can you tell," Jiriaya asked.

"...He ate the Bomb Bomb fruit...there was someone else," Homura realized. "I missed it at first but it is unmistakable. The blood was mixed with someone that uses chakra." He turned to Jiriaya. "If someone was to eat this, it would either drive them insane and kill them or drive them insane, kill them, and everyone around them."

"Just like Hiashi," Jiriaya stated. "Can you tell where this came from?"

"Not the way you want," Homura replied. "Sorry I can't help the way you want."

"You eliminated over three fourths of the island in the Grand Line," Vivi told him. "More than enough." She patted him on the head and thanked him. Though you couldn't tell with his skin, he blushed a little.

"Ahem, what is going on, Jiriaya," Homura asked when he turned back to the old sage.

"Someone is circulating these fruits in our home and we have to find him and kill him. ...Hard to believe it has already been six months. Naruto's hair is probably white from all the sun he has been getting."

"That would be kind of funny to see," Brook stated. "Do you have any idea where this 'Jones' is?"

"No," Cobra replied. "I am sorry we are not much help."

"It's okay," Chopper stated. "We will find him. Just as soon as the others get here."

"I wonder what they are up to," Zoro said aloud.

—oo000oo—

"Duck, dodge, tuck and roll," Naruto said to himself as he carried them out. "Jump up, land on feet, swing." He was in a practice bout with Zabuza learning how to wield large weapons like an ax. Jumping back, he glanced at the Log Pose to make sure they were still traveling the right direct.

"Never drop your gaze," Zabuza yelled, nearly taking Naruto's head off.

Anko looked at them and gave a smile. Time she had some fun as well. She grabbed her kunai and jumped into the fray. _Her_ swing almost took Zabuza's head off. "Thanks Anko-ch...OOF!" She had kicked Naruto right in the stomach, nearly dropping him to the ground.

"Your next lesson as a ninja! A third party is always waiting to take advantage of the situation!"

Temari shook her head, calling them children. "Temari-san, can I get a hand for a moment," Hunter asked her from the door to the med lab. Resisting the urge to grin, she folded up her fan, and went inside. He still wore that silly thing because he was afraid Gaara would kill him. Understandable in her opinion.

Sasuke wiped some sweat from his brow and went back to securing the line. "Okay, boy," one of the sailors from the Evening Star said to him, "here is where you will need that knot I showed you. Remember how it is done?"

Yugito was walking the yard arms, making sure all were properly secure. She smiling at how people gaping at her for doing it without a secure line. She was part cat! Her balance is perfect on any surface. "All good on this one, Hinata."

"Okay, Yugito-san," the Hyuuga said, extending a hand to pull her up into the crow's nest. "Now, how are we going to get him to notice us?"

"I see right through you," Kankuro stated. "You may be stone cold to everyone else but I can read you like a book."

"...I raise you ten," Gaara replied. He shuffled his cards a few times.

"You are both sorely lacking in this field," Baki replied. Unlike the both of them, he had his hand face down on the deck. He knew that Gaara was using his Eye of Sand and that the Kankuro in front of him was a puppet with the real one behind him and Gaara, hidden. "I once played a game with a man known as Ibiki. He had a poker face."

Hakari was at the wheel, enjoying the shade from the tree and the breeze that was pushing them right along. "Life is good," she said before taking a bite out of a kiwi.

—oo000oo—

"No mistakes this time," Kisame told them. "The Morning Song lies to port and on it is the Nine and Two Tails."

"Hmm," Itachi said with a nod. "Almost time."

"Yeah," Kisame said with a grin. "Soon, we will be heading home with some bloody as hell blades."

"Don't count it done until that ship is burning and we have the Jinchuuriki," Sasori said.

"Many a bounty hunters have fallen because they did," Kakuzu told them.

—oo000oo—

Hinata blinked when she saw the ship coming and blinked again. "Naruto-kun! Sh, Ship to Starboard c, coming at us!"

He looked to the right and sure enough, a ship was coming. "Do you see what colors they fly?"

"They don't have any," Yugito told him. She lift the spyglass to her eye. "There are only four of them. And all of them are wearing bamboo hats and black cloaks with red clouds on it."

"Do you see the name at least?"

"...The Sword and Shield."

"Oh shit..."

Both Anko and Zabuza looked at him in surprise. "You know it?"

"It is a ship that has been causing a lot of trouble along the West Blue. The best pirate ship out there, it is manned by S rank missing nin."

"...That is bad," Zabuza stated. "And I doubt that we are meeting out of coincidence."

"No such thing as coincidence," Naruto stated. "All hands, prepare to be attack! Get those canons ready! Hinata-chan, I hope you have been practicing with that rifle because we are going to need an excellent shot soon!"

He saw several flags get raised. "Heero! What are they saying?"

"...Morning Song, weigh anchor so we may board. Surrender or sink to the bottom of the sea," Captain Heero told him. "Talk about bad luck."

"Get those canons ready now," Naruto yelled as he turned back to the crew. "Move or we are all fish food!" Turning back to Heero, he told him the message he wanted returned.

"You joking? No, I didn't think so." Swallowing, he grabbed the needed flags and hoisted them.

_**Fuck that.**_

Naruto took the wheel. "Drop starboard anchor!" The ship lurched to the side when it dropped and came about. "Ready... FIRE!"

—oo000oo—

"DAMN," Kisame yelled. "What the hell were those!? That was no jutsu!"

"They are preparing a second volley," Kakuzu told them. "...Aren't those the things we sold because we didn't need them?"

"Looks like the served a purpose after all," Sasori replied. "Summoning no Jutsu!" One of his puppets appeared. It lifted its hands and this metal sand gathered around it. "Return fire," Sasori said.

"No, we kill the jinchuuriki, we are killed by Pain," Itachi said. "Keep them from killing us but do not attack until we board."

Kisame growled. "You are not making it easy for us."

"I am still crippling that ship," Sasori told him. Three balls of iron sand shot at the Side of the Morning Song. They hit it and the whole ship lurched. But when the dust cleared, all the saw was the reflective surface on an ice mirror.

"...I know that," Kisame yelled, dodging a canon ball. "That ice is the ice of the apprentice of one of my fellow swordsman, Zabuza! Him and Haku are on that ship!" A canon ball hit the main mast and tore it apart.

"We really should think about doing something," Kakuzu yelled. "Looks like we are taking that ship now." He jumped over the side of the ship, soon followed by Kisame, Sasori, and Itachi.

—oo000oo—

"Naruto-kun," Yugito yelled. "They have abandoned ship!"

"All hands, below deck now! We are about to be boarded!" Once only the ninja were a top the ship, they all tensed as they looked for where the attack would come from. Hinata loaded a round into the chamber and started looking around. She saw one looking out from behind the Sword and Shield and at him. Her hands shook as she had never killed someone before but she had to now.

The shot rang out as the bullet took the individual that wore a plain black cloak in the chest. She fired again where he fell. He raised an arm to block it and it shattered into broken pieces of wood. Hinata was about to fire again when the mast shook. This large man had landed on the end of the yard arm. "...Which of you is the Two Tails," Sasori asked.

They spun at him and Hinata fired again. The shot hit him in the forehead but he ignored it. "That is one powerful weapon you have there. It got all the way through my armor. And you effectively destroyed my favorite puppet." A tail came out from under his cloak and swung at them.

A blast of wind knocked him off the yard arm before he could reach them. He fell to the deck, losing his cloak as he did. "A giant puppet," Kankuro asked. He had Crow, Black Ant, and Salamander out and ready for combat.

"...Well, a fellow puppeteer," Sasori said as he straightened himself out. "I might as well fight you."

"No," Gaara said. A wall of sand rose up and slammed into him. "You fight all of us." Temari and Baki were by his side.

Kisame, Kakuzu, and Itachi landed on the deck. "...The one tails," Kakuzu asked in surprise.

"Zabuza," Kisame said as he threw off his hat and nodded to the former missing nin. He took Samehada off his back while Zabuza took the Zanbatou off. He was mildly surprised when the hunter nin created one from Ice and held it in a stance that said he knew what he was doing. "Still following him, Ha..."

"Yes," he interrupted. "He is my friend and where one goes, the other goes."

"...To those about to die, we salute you," Zabuza said before the two charged him.

Yugito jumped down, changing as she did. Black fire surrounded her and she became a cat. _**"MREOW!" **_She lunged at Kakuzu along with Anko.

Sasuke and Naruto looked at the last one. "I guess we fight you." Above them, Hinata pumped another round in and looked down to where she could hit him.

The man removed his hat and showed them his face. "Hello Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun."

"Brother!?"

"Weasel-sama!? Why are you here!?"

"We have come for the Bijuu that you hold." The way he said it made them shiver. But the effect was lost when he winked at them. "We are here for the One, Two, and Nine Tail Demons."

Naruto wasn't sure what was going on or what to do. So he did what came natural, he played Fuka-hone. A genjutsu settled over those wearing the cloaks. For each it was different. Kisame found himself in a desert. Kakuzu was in a prison. And Sasori was inside a giant termite colony. Itachi was still on the ship but only him and Naruto were there. "What is the meaning of this, Weasel-sama? Why have you attacked us."

"A group called Akatsuki is after the Bijuu and I am watching Akatsuki so I can help you. Now remember, timing is important here."

—oo000oo—

Kisame shook off the genjutsu almost as soon as it was laid on him. "The kid is good," Kisame stated. He had locked swords with Zabuza and Haku. And he smiled as behind them came one of Kakuzu's masked hearts. "Time to get started." He stepped back, making them fall forward, and slashed.

—oo000oo—

Kakuzu jerked when he felt it. One of his hearts had just been destroyed. He turned and saw that Fire had been struck down while getting too close to the the fighting swordsmen. "Watch where you are swinging that damn sword!"

"I was," Kisame said. "You really owe me, Itachi." He jumped and brought his sword down on Sasori, destroying the tail.

"Traitor," Sasori growled at him.

"The pot calling the kettle," Kisame said. He placed Samehada on his back and yelled, "Remember Kumo, Zabuza!?" He started going through handsigns as did Zabuza and Haku. "Water Dragon no Jutsu," the two yelled. They came crashing down on Sasori and wrapped around him. Haku finished the last handsign and pressed his hands against the closest dragon. It froze from that point to end of the other dragon, with Sasori trapped inside.

"Kisame, what is the meaning of this," Kakuzu demanded.

"The meaning is that we will not let our friends suffer for your ambitions," Itachi told him.

Kakuzu growled and sent his remaining hearts at him, Naruto, and Sasuke. Itachi drew out his kunai and met it's charge. Sasuke caught the hands of the of the Water mask and drove his boot into it's face.

While Naruto was tackled by Wind. He was held to the deck and Fuka-hone was thrown from his grasp. The mask opened it's mouth and a spiral of wind was formed. With his left hand pinned, he couldn't make the handsigns for jutsus. And he didn't have any other weapon other than Fuka-hone...

His right hand went inside his coat and grabbed the handle of the Medusa. He drew it and shoved it in the mouth of the thing. He fired all seven rounds and it fell to the ground and crumbled. "I will never underestimate a gun again." He stood and faced Kakuzu. "Oto Oto Wail!" Everyone covered their ears as the screamed caused the ice to crack a little. Kakuzu felt his eardrums shatter.

Sasuke ignored it the best he could along with the burning in his eyes. He needed to focus on fighting this thing. The mask was in worst shape for the wail then he was though. Sasuke saw it was about to attack so he ducked under it and around. He gave it a kick that sent it into the wail and it shattered. Now he let the pain in his head and eyes drop him to the ground.

Yugito was in agony, her ears a hundred time more sensitive like this. She couldn't hold it anymore and the fire went away. She tried to stand but couldn't. Anko right next to her was little better. They were just too close to Kakuzu. Something blue ran passed them. Hakari used her spear as a pole vault and jumped over Kakuzu and threw it through his chest while in the air.

"One to go," she said as she landed next to Itachi. She wore a huge grin and her eyes were blood shot.

"Let me guess, you are in a Frenzy, aren't you?"

She didn't answer, she just pulled out the knife Naruto gave her and another and lunged at the thing. Even Itachi looked pale when he saw what all she did to it.

—oo000oo—

"Alright, give me a reason not to have you two killed," Anko stated.

"They helped us," Naruto said.

"He is my brother," Sasuke said.

"They told us the reason why they joined Akatsuki in the first place," Zabuza told her. "Does seem wrong to make them walk the plank now. Plus I know that Kisame will be useful to us."

Anko growled. "You are still a wanted criminal in Konoha," Anko said to Itachi.

"He was following orders," Sasuke said, feeling like he was still using chakra for some reason.

"Sasuke-kun, I can handle this," Itachi said. "I did it because my father was going to betray the Leaf, nearly destroy it in doing so."

"Can you prove this?"

"I heard him debrief the elders," Naruto said. "We both did," he said with a look at Sasuke. He did a double take. "Sasuke, have your eyes always been red and I was just imagining things?"

"Huh?" He looked at the polished surface of a canon and saw he now had the first phase Sharigan. A smile split his face. "About time," he said, sounding nothing but confident. Inside, a chibi Sasuke was jumping up in the air, with his hands in Vs.

Itachi smiled as he threw his cloak over the side into the water. Kisame did the same. Behind them, a giant squid dragged the chunk of ice with Sasori inside it to the bottom. While the Sword and Shield burned to it's frame. "So, who is the captain of this ship?"

Everyone pointed to Naruto. "It kind of happened," Naruto said with a hand behind his head. "Still wearing your ANBU armor?"

"Yeah. So, what will it be, Anko?"

"...Humph. The brats won't let me kill you so you can stay. If you try anything funny and I _will_ kill you." She walked off.

Kisame had just replaced the strap that held Samehada to him back over his chest. He wore similar cloths as Zabuza does. "Great minds think alike," he said to him.

Heero walked up on the deck. "More ninja? Where are you getting them, lad!?"

—oo000oo—

Itachi pulled Naruto off to the side that evening. "I saw how those two are looking at you. So, which one?"

Naruto sighed. "I don't know. Right now, I am pretending to be dense about it so I can think but..." He blushed as he remembered what happened at Black Hills. "I think I might be in love with both of them.

Itachi let out a low whistle. "Careful when you walked do that road, Naruto. Handle it wrong and you will be in a world of pain."

Naruto nodded and went and sat down, leaning against the tree. "...A one woman man is what I want to be," he sang in a soft voice. "Stay by her side so faithfully. I would if I could but it's just no good. Because there's two perfect girls for me...

"Jenny, oh Jenny. Joy, oh Joy. A one woman man is what I want to be but there's two perfect girls for me!

"Officer Jenny, oh can't you see. You can lock me up and throw away the key. Jenny, if loving you a crime, then sentence me now and I'll do the time. My uniform beauty is simply the best. She's got my heart under house arrest. But before that cop make me her boy, I'm head of heels... I'm head over heel for a nurse named Joy!

"Jenny, oh Jenny. Joy, oh Joy. A one woman man is what I want to be but there's two perfect girls for me!

"Nurse Joy, won't you please, cure me of the this bad disease. Oh Joy, the diagnosis is bleak. When I see your face, my knees get weak. Well, I'm burning up, I got the fever. She's my perfect nurse and I'll never leave her. Her bed side manner has healed so many. So why am I in love... Why am I in love with Officer Jenny!?

"Jenny, oh Jenny. Joy, oh Joy. A one woman man is what I want to be but there's two perfect girls for me!

"A one woman man is what I want to be but there's two perfect girls for me. Oh, I've tried, and I've tried. And I searched way deep inside. From these two, I won't choose. I can't stand the bad news about the name of the girl I am going to loose. This can't go on, enough is enough. I got to pick one no matter how tough. It's time of eny meany miny mo. But wait a second. Wait a second, what's her name, I just got to know. I just got to know.

"Jenny, oh Jenny. Joy, oh Joy. A one woman man is what I want to be but there's two... No three, four, five, six, seven, so many! ..perfect girls for me!"

—oo000oo—

Yugito turned to Hinata. "It seems we have developed a slight problem." Hinata only blushed and nodded.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I know, evil cliff hanger with Orochimaru and Iruka. I'll finish it with the start of the next chapter. Now, is it me or would anyone hate to play poker with Ibiki. I know he would break through a poker face in five hands.

Not much to say on this one except I did say I would have Naruto sing 'Two perfect girls for me'.


	19. Chapter 19

Orochimaru almost had him. But Iruka wasn't a chunin for nothing. He leaned backwards till his hands were on the ground. Orochimaru went flying over him, already twisting around to get another shot at him. Iruka kicked off with his boots and brought them to his chest. He then pushed them out, slamming Orochimaru's jaw and breaking many of his teeth.

As Iruka came back to his feet, he used the Shunshin no jutsu to get out of there. He wasn't some know it all genin that got lucky. He knew he would die if he stayed. As he disappeared in a swirl of leaves, he saw Orochimaru reorient himself.

"You will die here snake," Tsunade snarled.

"Truly, Tsssunade, you are over reacting," he told her. "I was sssimply doing what I thought was bessst for this village."

"BY KILLING THE WIFE OF THE YONDAIME!? MY STUDENT! AND WHAT ABOUT NOW!?"

"...Don't really have much to sssay to that. How about it isss ssstagnant and decaying?" Both Tsunade and Sarutobi growled at him. "Look at how they treated the boy that is obviousssly the hisss ssson..." He jumped out of the way as Katsuyu slammed her body down on where he was standing.

"You always did talk to much," Sarutobi stated.

—oo000oo—

Hayate found Orochimaru's body and searched it. He had orders that if at all possible, retrieve the Kusanagi sword. But there were no seals nor a sword on him. "...Why would, cough, he not bring it to attack, cough, Konoha with?"

He heard something moving around in the body's chest and looked at it. Something was moving inside the crushed husk. It came from behind the ribcage. Moving closer, he heard it settle... Something burst from the chest and roared him, while blood splattered his face.

"AAGH!" Hayate fumbled back, drew his sword and cut off the thing's head. As he forced his heart back down his throat, he recognized the things as a snake. "...He kept one inside him?"

The snake's body started to twist around as part of it stiffened and headed for the opening. A handle came out of the neck followed by a blade. Reaching down, he grasped it and pulled it the rest of the way out. 'You are not the one to wield me.'

"SHIT!" He dropped the sword and the blade sunk into the floor. "...You are aware?"

'Amazing how many swords actually are,' it replied. 'But as I said, you are not the one to wield me. Nor will I let you.'

"This is too much. What is going on?"

The sword laughed at him in his mind. 'Well, if you are so confused, I will explain. Simply put, you are skilled enough with a sword that I will not kill you for grasping my handle. But only one with a snake contract can wield me. Which you are not.'

"I will not allow you to go to Orochimaru," he said vehemently. "I would sooner die than allow that."

The sword was silent for a moment. 'So be it.' It lifted up into the air and swung at him. He blocked with his sword and pushed it back.

"You have got to be kidding me," Hayate muttered, forgetting to cough. He started through his most complicated dance, seeing if this sword was up for it. It was. So he used his tried and true; his Dance of the Crescent Moon. The sword showed confusion while several clones appeared and Hayate jumped. His sword came down on the other and it dropped to the ground. "A sword, without a master is useless," the jonin said.

He heard it yawn in his head. 'Are you done now? Are you ready to die?'

"You have got to be kidding me," he muttered again.

"What are you still doing here," Iruka yelled when he appeared around a corner, running from the fight. "We need to get out of here! ...What the hell!?" The Kusanagi lifted up and was slowly spinning.

'Someone else to get my blade bloody. Excellent.' The sword pointed at Iruka and flew at him. It almost hit him when Hayate hit his katana against it, knocking it aside. 'I grow tired of your interference!' It tried to swipe at him and Iruka grabbed the handle and drove it into the ground. For thirty seconds, they just stood there.

"...You a swordsman, cough, Iruka-san?"

"No."

Hayate looked at the sword between them. "I was under the impression that only a swordsman with enough skill could hold you without being killed."

The sword yawned, bored with them. 'I also said that only snake summoners could wield me. I am, after all, the sword that is to enforce their obedience.'

Hayate looked at Iruka. "Ah, yeah... Would you believe that Anko was so impressed with my skill 'with one wicked tongue' that she let me sign it?" He pulled up his sleeve and showed him the tattoo. "I'm just not that good with it."

"...What do you know, cough. You going to behave now?"

'Never said I wouldn't. You were the one making demands that you had no right to. Honestly, if you had just taken me away, I would have gone quietly. I already know there is another snake summoner in this village and I would have made my way to her eventually.'

"Patient thing, isn't it," Iruka said as he ran away from the stadium. "Why do you enforce loyalty from them?"

'I almost slew Orochi once. Would have if she couldn't die. I am the only thing that can cut her scales. Even the boss snake, Manda, would be afraid if his summoner held me when summoning.'

"And Orochimaru knows this?"

'Well...I might have forgotten to mention that little bit of information to him,' Kusanagi told him with a little satisfaction in his voice. 'I honestly don't like him, to snake like for my taste.'

Hayate just shook his head. "This is getting too weird. Iruka a snake summoner. Not to mention the same person that has been saving people from meeting their fate in Anko's bed before she left. And now a talking sword that doesn't like it's old wielder."

'You forgot to cough,' the sword told him. Iruka arched an eyebrow at Hayate.

"Oh, what was I thinking. Cough."

—oo000oo—

Orochimaru was getting desperate. While he was in the open, he was maneuverable. But the walls of the stadium was a prison now. He could not get through them without being crushed. "My SSSound Four, come to me!"

Tayuya scowled as she looked down at him. Sakon and Jirobo didn't hesitate in running down there. Kidoumaru did though. "What are you waiting for, asshole!?"

"...He will need a body as soon as possible. Jirobo would never be it. Sakon and Ukon can't because he has two minds. And while I like having six arms, able to fondle more girls that way, I doubt he would. So that leaves..."

"What are you two still waiting here for," Kabuto demanded.

They both glared at him. "Scratch that, Tayuya." He spat a stream of webbing at Kabuto, wrapping him in it. Pulling him close, he jumped down there. "Stay here. See ya, soon Tayuya."

When they all landed next to Orochimaru in the rubble that was the wall. "The barrier, now!" The three of them make a triangle barrier around him. He looked for the for the one he had planned on in an emergency to take over but didn't see her. "Where isss Tayuya!?"

"She was unable to join us, Lord Orochimaru," Kidoumaru told him. "I grabbed a ninja that you can possess! I know he is strong, having fought him myself once!"

Orochimaru locked eyes with the struggling ninja. His features were covered by the webbing but he could still enter. "Good job Kidoumaru." He lunged at the struggling ninja.

—oo000oo—

_Sasori looked at his puppet that he was sending to Orochimaru. Kabuto was under several layers of genjutsu right now. All of them would be near impossible to erase. But his final one was because even without it, Kabuto didn't know the reason it was placed even existed._

"_Kabuto, what is your mission?"_

"_I am to go to Orochimaru and become his right hand man. In the shadows, I am to sabotage all his choice bodies."_

"_Do you know why?"_

"_No," was the monotone response._

"_Good, you shall never know." If he was still capable of such things, he would have smiled. 'Until he uses you as his body.'_

—oo000oo—

Kabuto widened his eyes as Orochimaru's soul first started to enter his mouth. "NO! Lord Orochimaru, it is a..." He never felt it but a puppet piece had been implanted in his body in the disguise and with the ability of his spinal cord. And it just cracked open.

Orochimaru/Kabuto would have fell to the ground if not for the webbing. They stared out their unmoving eyes as they felt a single thing. Something inside his spine was mixing. It was a recently discovered compound that when mixed, formed something called trinitrotoluene. A very unstable liquid that tended to explode when trounced around, and the more there was, the bigger the explosion. Which happened to be why he now had a liter there.

"Lord Orochimaru?" Kidoumaru took had no choice but drop the barrier while Jirobo took him off his back. Turning around, Jirobo dropped him to the ground.

—oo000oo—

Katsuyu, who had been trying her hardest to collapse the barrier, was thrown backwards and through the what remained of the wall. Tsunade hit the ground and rolled a hundred feet before stopping. Sarutobi had been fortunate enough to land on Katsuyu. But unfortunately, Enma landed on his arm and leg, shattering the bones there. He roared in pain as he resisted rolling onto his side to cradle his wound.

Kidoumaru was behind Jirobo so he was saved most of the explosion. But he was not spared it totally. Blood covered his body, both his and others. He felt the seal on his neck burn up meaning not even Orochimaru's soul had survived. He tried to move but was in just too much pain. A head moved between him and the sun above him. "What the fuck did you do," Tayuya yelled at him, reaching down and grabbing him, helping him stand.

"RAGH! I don't know. There was an explosion within the barrier. No one else survived."

She reached up and grabbed her shoulder. "Can't say I will cry over that. ...I bet that re bar in your gut hurts. You going to survive?"

He looked down and saw that was what had hurt him. "I...don't fucking know. But if I die, I would rather die at home instead of here. Can you help me get there?"

"...You did save me from that so I guess I could, asshole."

"Good... Get moving bitch before they get here." He forced himself to laugh through the pain he was feeling.

—oo000oo—

"...I would kill for a hot spring," Jiriaya stated.

Sanji smiled. "Forget it old man. No way some cute honey would fall for you when they could have someone like me."

Jiriaya shook his head at the chain smoker. "Experience makes up for a lot, boy. See that girl over there?" He didn't even get the chance to tell him to try his hand at her. Sanji was already over there, holding her hand while on one knee.

"Oh, dear lady! I am eternally grateful that there is sand on this beautiful island! Fore it must have soften your landing when you fell from heaven to make it beautiful."

She only rolled her eyes, took her hand back, and said, "I'm not interested."

"Excuse me, ma'am," Jiriaya said after she walked a few feet away from the dejected Sanji. "May I please have a word?"

"...You may."

"I apologize for my friend here, Sanji of the Going Merry. He says what he feels but knows not how to say it so that it won't make him look like an idiot."

She gave a light laugh. "You are correct there. But you sound like you do."

"But oh course my dear. If it had been me, I would have tried something more along the lines of this." He took a few steps back and started the whole thing over as if he never saw her before. He walked by her, making the motions that meant he accidentally bumped into her. "Oh, I apologize ma'am... Whoa..."

"What?"

"I have heard that the desert grows the most lovely and rare flowers. But to honestly see one now is almost more than I could ever hope for in my life."

She blushed a little. "You don't mean that..."

"But I do! I am a warrior of honor! I would never tell a lie where it is as important as this! Please, permit me this one token to forever remind myself of our meeting." He held her hand, bent at the waist, and kissed it. He stood back up and spoke with his lips brushing her ear. "Fore if I do not, my nights will forever be haunted by the opportunity lost. Please, may I be graced with your name?"

"...Sulia."

"A more lovely name could never have found a more lovely woman." He stepped back and bowed again. "Lady Sulia of Alabasta, I, Jiriaya the Toad Sannin of the Fire Country, bid you good evening and the wish of well endeavors. And the wish that, by chance or fate, this will not be our last meeting."

She nodded and continued on her way. There was much she still had to do around the castle.

"Hate to tell you this old man, but it doesn't look like you left a good enough impression," Sanji said with a grin.

Jiriaya held up his hand. "Wait."

She continued walking a few steps and she could no longer keep walking straight. With a hand against the wall for support, she looked back at Jiriaya with a blush on her cheeks and a smile on her lips. "By chance or fate, Sir Jiriaya, let us meet again," she called back before rushing off to cover the blush.

Sanji dropped his jaw and cigarette. He turned to Jiriaya who was busy watching her leave. "...Teach me, master," he said on his knees.

"Sorry but I have but one student. You will have to settle for the advice I put in my books."

"Tell me the names and I will get them!"

"My first book is 'A Hero's Story: Demon Slayer and Protector Naruto'. After that is Icha Icha Tactics. But you will have trouble getting them. As far as I know, only one person has them. Naruto has a copy of each book, though he doesn't read them. He read the first one but won't read the others. You will have to take it up with him when he gets here." He walked away, laughing at Sanji's plight.

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked up at the stars that had just come out out after the sun had set. It took a bit but they were just a few hour from port. "Hurry up and we will make landfall! Unless you want to stop now and be stuck out on the water for longer."

The crew of the Evening Star looked at each other and scrambled about, trying to pull as much speed from the brigantine as possible. To help pass the time, one of them started singing a badly off tune song. One of Naruto's clones couldn't take it any longer so he sang a counter song.

"Work it. Make it. Do it. Makes us. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. More than. Hour. Our. Never. Ever. After. Work is. Over. Work it. Make it. Do it. Makes us. Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger. More than. Hour. Our. Never. Ever. After. Work is. Over.

"Work it harder. Make it better. Do it faster. Makes us stronger. More than ever, hour after, our work is never over." It didn't take long but that became the song for the night until they pulled into port.

"All hands fall in," Heero shouted to his crew. When they fell in line, he saw eagerness in their eyes. "I know you all want off. I know you want to go to a tavern or find our next ship. But there is a problem. First, this ship needs to be taken care of first. Now I am willing to let you do it in shifts but I want to know who messed with Jonin Anko."

Anko had her trench coat zipped up in front. Because her shirt was missing. She could take that. But not that her panties were as well. She made sure Heero paid for it. And now, he was going to make his crew pay for it.

This cocky guy raised his hand. "If it is a punishable offense, to be administered by Anko, I accept full responsibility for it, sir."

"Shut up, Stipanic."

"Thank you sir, glad to be appreciated."

"No one?" He saw two of his crew were barely keeping the grins off their faces. "Alright, everyone, back on this ship." He turned to Anko. "I apologize. I will make sure it doesn't happen again if we continue to travel together."

"We won't," Anko told him. "But don't worry, I already have my revenge ready." As they climbed back up the boarding plank, she turned to the harbor official. "Excuse me, is there a place where I can sunbath nude? I need to work on my tan."

The man's eyes could have fallen out of his head. "Uh... Of, of course! Why, you can just over there!"

She shook her head and grinned. "Preferable out of site of the dock."

"NOOOOOOO," came several voices from the Morning song.

"...Just around the bend. Sun will be up soon so that is the best spot to be anyway," he told her.

"Thank you," she said with a heartbreaking smile. As she walked away, she made sure they saw her wiggling her butt.

"...Screw this," Stipanic yelled as he was about to chase after her. Naruto caught him at the bottom of the gang plank.

"Don't," he warned him.

"Let go of me!"

"No, listen to me. Don't. Those two seconds of bliss will not be worth the five hours of torture. Just take it like a man and stay on the ship."

Behind them, Heero was busy watching Anko walking away. "That is evil."

"Like hell it isn't worth it," Stipanic told him. Pushing Naruto out of the way, he ran after her.

Anko turned around and smiled at him. "Ignoring orders, Stipanic?" She threw a kunai that cut his cheek. The next thing anyone knew, she was right next to him, licking the blood from his cheek. "That can get people killed. And it is people like you that die first. Hmm, yummy. But not as good as my boyfriends." She had another kunai in hand and made a fresh cut on his other cheek to get the blood there. "Get back on the ship. Before I give you a real reason to go."

Stipanic nodded and walked back. Naruto was nodding, "I told you that would happen."

Itachi looked after Anko as she walked away. "..." He started whistling as he walked to town and found Kisame with him. "...Anko?"

"Anko," Kisame confirmed.

"...No doubt anymore than one will be caught."

"Yup."

"Well worth the pain though."

"Yup."

"...I'm not letting you spoil my time watching!"

"Like to see you do something about it! Why do you even want to go anyway!? You are going blind!"

"I'm not blind yet! I've been holding back on that for that reason!"

Naruto sighed as the two started exchanging light blows to get there before the other. "Baki-san, think we can stop them? ...Baki-san?" He turned around and found he was taking advantage of them in a fight. "Are all adults closet perverts? At least Anko-chan doesn't hide it." He looked around and found the genin there had nothing to do. "...That is it! If they want to act like perverts than we are going to have a party!" He ran up and grabbed Yugito's and Hinata's hands. "I saw a tavern down the street!" He pulled them along. With nothing else to do, Team Anko and Team Baki followed along with Haku, Hakari, and Zabuza. "Heero, make sure to get supplies for the Star!"

—oo000oo—

They walked in just after the band had arrived and gotten set up. They were actually warming up. "Vi undrar ar ni redo att vara med. Armarna upp nu ska ni fa se. Kom igen, vem som helst kan vara med. Sa ror pa era fotter. Oa-a-a! Och vicka era hofter. O-la-la-la! Gor som vi till denna melodi.

"Oh ahh oohh! Dansa med oss, klappa era hander! Gor som vi gor ta nagra steg at vanster! Lyssna och lar; missa inte chansen! Nu ar vi har med caramelldansen! O-o-oa-oa! O-o-oa-oa! O-o-oa-oa! O-o-oa-oa!

"Det blir en sensation overallt forstas. Pa fester kommer alla at slappa loss Kom igen, nu tar vi stegen om igen. Sa ror pa era fotter. Oa-a-a! Och vicka era hofter. O-la-la-la! Gor som vi till denna melodi. Sa kom och!

"Dansa med oss, klappa era hander! Gor som vi gor ta nagra steg at vanster! Lyssna och lar; missa inte chansen! Nu ar vi har med caramelldansen!

"Dansa med oss, klappa era hander! Gor som vi gor ta nagra steg at vanster! Lyssna och lar; missa inte chansen! Nu ar vi har med caramelldansen! O-o-oa-oa! O-o-oa-oa! O-o-oa-oa! O-o-oa-oa!

"Sa hom och! Dansa med oss, klappa era hander! Gor som vi gor ta nagra steg at vanster! Lyssna och lar; missa inte chansen! Nu ar vi har med caramelldansen! Dansa med oss, klappa era hander! Gor som vi gor ta nagra steg at vanster! Lyssna och lar; missa inte chansen! Nu ar vi har med caramelldansen!"

Yugito looked over to Naruto. "Did you catch any of that?"

"I think I heard the word caramel." He grinned as he took Fuka-hone off his back. Looking to the bartender, he said, "We need allot of food and drinks. We are having a party." He gave him five gold coins to start with.

He walked up to the stage. "Fast beat, lets see you keep up with this."

The lead singer arched an eyebrow. "Don't bore us to death."

He gave her a fox grin before starting. "Sunshine shining in the summer time breeze. The whole world's smiling if you know what I mean. Cool, cool time hanging out with the boys. An AM radio making some noise. Tuning in to a moment in time, when everything seemed like a perfect rhyme. Here it is, here we go, my show, can't wait. Gotta do it now before it gets to late.

"Hey man, look at me now! Nothing on earth going to get me down! Sparks flying, I'm on fire: way up high and I'm getting higher! Turn it loose; turning it on! Day like this, what could go wrong? Tip my hat, blow a kiss to the crowd! Hey man, look at me now!

"Green grass growing at the edge of my feet. Feels good knowing I'm not out of league. Singing a song that I never have sung; out of my reach, on the tip of my tongue. Who knows if tomorrow will come. Really don't matter till this day's done. Gotta move, gotta go, my fate, my turn. Still a little day light left to burn.

"Hey man, look at me now! Nothing on earth going to get me down! Sparks flying, I'm on fire: way up high and I'm getting higher! Turn it loose; turning it on! Day like this, what could go wrong? Tip my hat, blow a kiss to the crowd! Hey man, look at me now!

"Sunshine shining in the summer time breeze. The whole world's smiling if you know what I mean. Here it is, here we go, my show, can't wait. Gotta do it now before it gets to late.

"Hey man, look at me now! Nothing on earth going to get me down! Sparks flying, I'm on fire: way up high and I'm getting higher! Turn it loose; turning it on! Day like this, what could go wrong? Tip my hat, blow a kiss to the crowd! Hey man, look at me now!

"Hey man, look at me now! Look at me now! Look at me now! Look at me now! Look at me now!

"Hey man, look at me now." He finished and looked at them. "Did I keep you alive?"

"...You a professional," the drummer asked.

"Yes and no. I could be if I wanted but I am busy with something else. Keep playing, please."

—oo000oo—

"Hakari, you have had enough," Sasuke said, pulling her tankard of ale away from her. They had been celebrating all day and it was already three.

"Ayesh have not," she slurred, pulling it back. "I haven't even finished my shecond keg yet."

"You've had enough," Sasuke told her firmly.

"No," she replied before toss her head and mug back. She slammed the empty glass back down. Before throwing her arm around his shoulders. "Hey, come on, chicken butt... Drink up!"

"I've had some. Come on, you are only embarrassing yourself."

She laughed so hard, she fell to the ground. "Help me up. HAHAHA! Me embarrassed!? Look at Naruto! He is trying to flirt with both of them at once without letting the other know!"

He looked up and saw he had been doing that but finally gave up. So he just grabbed them both and held them close. Hinata had the least drink of all of them so she knew what was up. But she wasn't surprised. Which Sasuke found odd. Yugito just looked content, purring into his chest.

"Andsh don't forget Gaara!"

Sasuke looked over at him and dropped his jaw. Stone cold Gaara was...smiling. Not only that, he was smiling at a waitress and talking to her. His awkwardness with people covered up by the seven empty mugs around him.

"Don'tch forget Kankuro and Zabuza!"

They were at the bar. Zabuza was currently drinking some poor sucker under the table in a drinking contest. While Kankuro was robbing people of their money. "I tell you, I will place my hand on the counter and..." He gave a drunken giggle. "And I will make that mug go into my hand."

"Yeah right!"

"Never going to happen!"

"I'll even up the bet! Anyone have any Sea stone?"

"Yeah, the sheriff does," someone told him.

"Where is he?"

"With the big guy with the sword," someone else said. "Under the table to be precise."

"Get it!" The net was taken from him and wrapped around his arm. "Now even if I did have what ever that thing you call 'Devil Fruit' abilities, I couldn't do it." He placed his hand on the table, two feet from the mug. "Just let me say the magic words. Konoha, Suna, Kumo!" He attached his unseen chakra strings to it and dragged it to his hands. "Pay up suckers!"

"...Hey," Hakari said, looking around. "Where ish Haku and Temari?" She stood up and fell down, passed out.

Sasuke shook his head and got down there with her. And saw Haku and Temari passed out on the floor. With Haku's mask off and Temari drooling on his shirt. What was most interesting was that they were wrapped up in each others arms and Haku had lipstick on his collar, cheek, and several other places. Sasuke sighed and replaced Haku's mask. Then he turned back to Hakari. He bent over to pick her up.

"Got you," Hakari said, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him down to her. "Needed a blanket," she mumbled in her sleep.

"Hakari, wake up, you can't sleep here like this."

Her lips curled in a smile. "What makes you think I'm not, chicken butt?" She pulled him closer and whisper, "I always had a thing for dark and mysterious. And those are exactly what those eyes of yours are."

"Hakari... What are you doing?"

"Well, we are boyfriend and girlfriend. Been that way since Konoha."

"I said just holding hands!"

"Too bad, Uchiha. You are not the forceful one in this relationship." She pulled him to her lips and pressed them to his. He tensed all for an instant before relaxing. "There, that so bad?"

"...You know we have both drank so much we won't remember this."

"Maybe," she said with a smile.

"Hey, my two best buddies," Naruto said, dropping his head under the table. "What are you doing down there? More food and beer has arrived!"

—oo000oo—

That evening, the whole building was quiet. Bodies littered the ground, looking like a mass suicide. The silence was total. Until a hand reached up and grabbed the edge of a table, followed by another. Naruto slowly lifted his head up above the rim. "...What was it..." He flinched as even those words sounded like thunder in his ears. "That uncle said was a ninja sin? Wasn't it beer, money and woman?"

"Don't know," Gaara said, from where he was leaning against the wall. He wasn't sure if he had nodded off or not but the building was in one piece so he guessed he didn't. "Never met your uncle." Naruto fell back to the floor.

"Keep it down, brats," Zabuza groaned. "My head is killing me."

Hunter could barely keep from chuckling. "Anyone want to buy my sure fire get over a hang over cure?" They all glared at him.

—oo000oo—

Itachi was nursing a dislocated shoulder and sprained wrist on the other arm. He lost of course. Too bad for Kisame he couldn't get the position anyway. Baki was already there and easily knocked him out.

But as bad a condition he was in right now, the group that stumbled onto the Morning Song right now was worst. "Where were you?"

"We were having 'fun'," Sasuke told him, being in the second best shape of those there. "Where is the crew?"

"They were finally given shore leave," Itachi told his little brother. Before poking him on the fore head. "So what have you been up to, Sasuke?"

Sasuke glared at him while rubbing that spot. "Well, being drunk and dragged under a table be a fishman seems the top of the list right now."

Hakari winced. "Shh. Too loud."

Itachi looked at his otouto with an arched eyebrow. "Anything happen down there?"

"No," Sasuke said slowly, shaking his head.

Itachi gave him a small mirror he often used to look around corners. "You sure?" There, on his cheek, was barbecue sauce in the shape of lips. "Needed help eating then?"

Sasuke paled. "I had hoped that was just a drunken dream."

"I said you are being too loud!" Hakari yelled while hitting him on the head.

Itachi watched her walk below deck before looking down at his brother and continuing. "So which was it? Temari, Yugito, or Hinata?"

"...No comment."

"I can find out easily enough, brother."

"Then do your worst, I am not talking willingly."

Itachi shrugged. "Have it your way." He stood straighter and his hands reached out. "...Naruto-kun, did you happen to see who kissed my brother?"

"...Uh... Ano, I did see him wrapped up in the arms of Hakari...I think."

"Thank you." He looked satisfied with that.

"You talk and I will kill you," Sasuke told him.

"Something wrong? Or are you still trying to hold up your loner image?"

"I swear I will."

"Try it." Sasuke lunged at him and Itachi flipped him to the deck using the arm that had been dislocated. Putting a pocky stick in his mouth, he said, "Keep trying brother. You just might one day hit me." He was about to walk away but saw that a book fell from Sasuke's weapon pouch. "What have we here?" He flipped it over to look at the cover and his eyes almost fell from his head. Icha Icha Tactics, book four. "My... My book!"

"My book, you left it in Konoha," Sasuke said, taking it back.

Itachi gave him to same glare he gave Orochimaru before forcing him to leave. "Give it to me and any other you have!" Sasuke scoffed. Before backing away in fear. "That is right, you better cower in fear. Now give them to me!"

"I FUCKING SAID YOU ARE BEING TOO DAMN LOUD!" Hakari yelled, beating Itachi into the deck at each word. She stomped back to the door. "If I hear another word from you two, I am going to use your bodies to repair the sip with after I send you both through the hull in at least a dozen places!" She slammed the door behind her.

"...What did you two do to my first mate," Naruto whispered. "Come on, let's get you both to bed," he said to Yugito and Hinata, supporting both.

"Hmm, okay," Yugito purred. "...Who spiked my drink with cat nip?"

"No clue," Hinata said with a smile on her face. She was barely walking and was really hanging onto Naruto.

Naruto took them below and set them in their hammocks and collapsed into his. Too bad they didn't stay there. "Oto... Hinata-chan, why are you in my hammock?"

"Cold."

"There are blankets... Hinata-chan?" She already seemed asleep. "Nothing to do about it now." Something fell on him on the opposite side. "Not you too."

"Yes, me too," Yugito replied. She wrapped her arms around his neck along with Hinata. "Now that we have you where we want you..."

"We want to know already. Who do you like," Hinata asked.

"A set up," Naruto finally realized in his drunk hazed mind. "...How much have you been faking?"

"Quite a bit," Hinata replied. "Oh, I am drunk. And I will die of embarrassment in the morning. But I want to know right now."

"And you with the cat nip?"

"That was also me," Hinata said with a blush. "I thought it was funny."

Naruto shook his head. "No way out of this?"

"Nope," they replied.

"...Not going to hurt me, are you?"

"We will if you answer wrong," Yugito told him.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "...I like..."

"You like," they urged.

"...I like you...both." He closed his eyes and awaited the beating.

"And that was the...right answer," Yugito whispered into his ear. Before nibbling on it. That shot his eyes open.

"Can you say that again? I thought you said I answered right."

"She did," Hinata said, drawing him into a kiss. "Why choose, Naruto-kun?"

His jaw would have hit the floor. Had Yugito not replaced her. "...Now I know I'm dreaming." Yugito pinched him. "Ouch. Guess not."

—oo000oo—

"We'll toss the dice however they fall! Kiss the girls be them short or tall! And come whenever the master calls and dance with Jack o' Shadows," Haku and Temari sang as they tried to find their way back to the ship.

"...That sounds like a good idea," Haku said, taking off his mask and pulling Temari into another kiss. "Now...do you know where we are?" Temari tripped and they fell to the ground.

"The road," She replied before laughing. "Come on, I think the dock is back this way."

Haku stood back up. "No, I'm sure it is that way," he pointed, not even realizing he pointed the same way. "So let's go." He made it three feet before stumbling again, falling against a building, and laughing like it was the funniest thing in the world.

The magistrate sighed as he saw them. "Another two. Alright boy, ma'am, where is your ship?" They pointed in opposite directions this time. "Okay, you two are hammered. How about the name of your ship?"

"Morning Song," Temari slurred.

"Why am I surprised? I've been escorting a bunch of you there all night. Though you two are just drunk so I'm not concerned. I'll take you there." He grabbed their arms and led them back. "Here we go, back on the boat you belong on."

"Oh, there it is," Haku said, his mask back on. "Wonder where it went?"

"I stand corrected, you two are really hammered." He turned to the ship and called, "I got..." A band of sand covered his mouth.

"The first mate has a hang over and wants it quiet," Gaara warned. "Temari, Hunter, I was wondering where you two stumbled off to."

"We tried to follow you guys but we kept falling," Temari told him with a Cheshire cat grin.

Hunter stepped onto the ship. "Is the Song always shaking this much?"

"It not," Gaara told him. "Temari, you should go on to bed. Hunter, Naruto left me a message to give you."

"Oki-doki," Temari said before trying to find the door. Another band of sand appeared and escorted her down to her hammock.

Gaara then removed the band from the magistrate. "I thank you for bringing my sister back, sir. And I apologize for silencing you. But the last person that was loud left that indent in the deck."

"Understandable. Try to keep your crew under control though, alright, lad?"

"I will." When he left, Gaara turned back to Hunter.

"So, what was it the Captain wanted me to know?" A hand of sand grabbed his collar and pulled him close. "Really, that what he said?"

"Let me make this clear. My sister has already fallen for one sailor on this ocean. One that I can respect as he gave her the same lumps she gave him. You are okay Hunter, but you are treading on taken ground."

"...Two things. First, what gave me away?" Gaara grabbed his collar and showed him the lip marks. "Ah, forgot about those. And the second is actually easier to do." He took off his mask. "Yo, Gaara, long time?"

"...You are a hunter nin of Konoha?"

"Nothing official yet. Used to be one for Kiri back when Zabuza-sama and I were Mist ninja. Just didn't want you guys to know who I was after meeting you on Black Hills."

"Makes sense. ...I guess I won't kill you if you continue to date my sister. But hurt her and you are chum, got it?"

"Oh yes, very clear. Can you take the sand off me? I feel uncomfortable with it wrapping around my body."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: Another chapter down. Haven't thought up a name for this island but it is a western island. I mean like Tombstone, El Paso, Dodge City, the wild west. I had thought of putting the drinking game from My Name is Nobody in this but decided against it. Guns going off would have been too much.

Sorry this one took so long but over the Fourth weekend, I just wanted to do nothing but relax and play a new game. No doubt you all have wanted to do the same. I have a question hopefully someone can answer. In the manga, does it ever actually say that Itachi likes pocky in any way, shape or form? And if so, where? I am trying to find places to put the request so keep them coming.

This chapter has 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' by Daft Punk,


	20. Chapter 20

"...Cramp, cramp, cramp!" Naruto stretched the leg as much as he could but it wasn't much. So he just gritted his teeth and let it pass. He had been having such a nice dream too. Hinata and Yugito were swimming and waving him to join them. It wasn't deep so he wouldn't drown in it. He jumped in and found out the very interesting fact that they did not have clothing on. That, of course, was right when he woke up.

"Be quiet," Yugito purred into his shoulder, still asleep.

'Cats and their naps,' Naruto thought as he grinned/grimaced. Of all the times to get a Charlie horse. He thought nothing about the dream. After all, it was a dream. And he was a self admitted pervert. '...Must not cop a feel, must not cop a feel.'

He closed his eyes again and relaxed into the arms of both women again. He could die happy right now... There was a click and a flash, making him snap his eyes open. "What is this," Kisame asked, waving a picture in the air to dry the film. "The daughter of Hyuuga Hiashi in the arms of not only a man but another woman!? The scandal!" He grinned evilly.

Said girl groaned. "Naruto-kun, keep it down... I'm sleepy." She pulled her favorite blanket, the coat he let her keep from their time in the Forest of Death, closure. She had took a page from Naruto and kept it in a seal on her arm.

Naruto glared at Kisame. "I swear, if that goes around, I will turn you into sushi," he hissed.

"Like you could brat, like you could. So...what is this worth to you to keep it from going around?"

He grit his teeth harder than even for the cramp. "How about not pickling you?"

"I'd just breath it in," he said with a cocky grin.

Naruto growled. "...What do you want?"

"A station," Kisame supplied. "A station and title on this ship."

Naruto continued to growl. "...Not much left to give you. Haku is the ship's medical officer. Hakari is the first mate as well as cook. Anko-chan is in command when off the ship."

"I will be in command of underwater assaults," Kisame told him. "Zabuza is good but not good enough." He was grinning arrogantly.

"Well, a mist ninja would be better for it. As well as a fishman... You are a fishman, right? Not just someone with a weird Kekkei Genkai?"

"I am."

"...The position is yours. The picture?" Kisame gave it to him and Naruto ruined the film on it before it could dry and tore it up.

"Now what do I get for mine," Itachi asked, waving his own picture to dry it.

Naruto turned his head to face him almost mechanically. If it wasn't sure to wake the two up, he would use his best genjutsu on them to make them see... Snakes was getting old. He'd have Kyuubi eat them! No, raped by a hammer head shark! Better yet, trapped out on a raft and in desperation, Itachi would turn Kisame into sushi! And lost in a dessert for Kisame!

"...Quarter's Master," Naruto growled out. 'Wait! Gaara told me how sick Shukaku has gotten in his cage! I'll stick them inside it! Puke and all!'

"No," Itachi stated.

"Yes," Naruto told him. "You were a ANBU captain, management and supply gathering will be perfect for you. You are actually the best one for it. I was already thinking about giving you the position."

"I am not accepting it," Itachi told him.

"That is too bad... Uchiha Itachi, as captain of the Morning Star, I am making you the Quarter's Master until you are dead, or I find someone better. Oto Oto Charm." Itachi couldn't resist the urge to give him the picture as well as the camera. The picture went the way of the first and the camera was sealed. Naruto then released him. "Now be quiet, they are sleeping." He closed his eyes to avoid the glare as well as the genjutsu Itachi wanted to give him through his eyes.

"Naruto," Itachi said slowly.

"...Yes, Weasel-sama?"

Itachi flipped over the hammock. "Time to wake up captain! I have several forms and such you need to check over before I buy the supplies for the ship!"

Yugito jumped up, kunai at the ready, expecting an attack. "Where!?"

Hinata was in a Juuken stance when she realized there was nothing attacking them. "N, Naruto-kun, what is..." Suddenly she remembered last night and fainted. She had kissed Naruto straight on the lips!

Naruto caught her and sighed. "Thanks, Itachi."

"No need to thank me, captain. After all, I will have allot of forms for you to check to make sure the Star is running in tip top shape."

Naruto sighed. "The Maiden curse you to a watery grave," Naruto muttered.

"The who," they both asked.

"Oh, the figure head," Naruto told them. "Our Maiden of Luck because of how much we need it and have gotten since she was put on the Morning Star." He laid Hinata back on the hammock and stretched. "Now, since I am awake, I guess I better start going about gathering information from this island."

—oo000oo—

Naruto took a good long look of the island. It was open grass lands as far as he could see. Just rolling planes with a arid heat filling it. Off in the distance, he could hear a herd of bison or cattle moving to their next settling.

Glancing at the town, he was surprised. Now that he go a look at it while he wasn't drunk, he saw it was nothing like any town he has ever seen or read about from the West Blue. The buildings were made of thin wooden planks to provide shade but not to capture heat. It stayed warm here without it. At the same time though, there were storm cellars at ever house. There was the look here that said that they expected hard weather.

The roads were dirt paths and there was plank side walk built a foot above the ground. In front of every building that was frequented were three beams set in a square. A few of these had horses tied to them. What surprised him most was that almost everyone man and even some children carried a pistol. And not just any old single shot but a six shooter. No where as near as good as his Medusa but they were similar.

"You stare any harder at my town and you might burn a hole through it." Naruto faced the man it came from. He was in his late twenties and had brown hair that was shoulder length. He had a rough beard that he had just started growing. He wore a duster, like Naruto, that went down to his calves and on it was a silver star that said 'Marshal'. He had a belt with bullets in it and no doubt a gun under the coat. On his head was a wide brim hat the curved up words on the sides.

"Sorry, never seen a town like this before."

"No other like it outside this island," the man replied. "You came in yesterday, right? Then welcome to Texas. This here is the biggest island on the Line." He spat on the ground before continuing. "Take a man ten days to ride a horse sprinting straight across it. Mostly cattle country so we sell allot of beef and leather. Now what are you here for?"

"Looking for information, Mr..."

"_Marshal_ Dillon," the marshal told him. "I am the law in this town. Now let me make something clear, lad. That stunt y'all pulled yesterday will not happen again. Not in my town, understood?"

"Yes sir, marshal."

"Good." He whistled and waved someone over. "Earp, show this kid around."

"_Captain_," Naruto corrected, "not kid."

Dillon nodded, if Naruto could use his title, so would he. "The captain is looking for something, help him out."

"Sure thing, marshal," the boy replied excitedly. When he walked away, he turned to Naruto. "That there was thee marshal Dillon, captain! Not an easy man to impress!" He grinned a way that Naruto found familiar. He made it when he talked about being Hokage. "One day, I am going to be just as great as him!"

Naruto let out a gut felt laugh. 'Yeah, he reminds me of me!' "Okay, Earp, first off, how long does the Log Pose take to change to the next destination?"

"Roughly two weeks," he replied. "How did you make captain so young sir?"

Naruto smiled. An eight year old calling him sir was just too funny. "Well, I kind of had to take control when something bad happened and I kept it. So, Earp your real name?"

"Yeah, Wyatt Earp," he said, slamming a fist to his chest proudly. "Just wait, in time, they will be talking about my legend on other islands!"

"Well, better get yourself a good hat and gun then," Naruto said as he started walking. "Come on, show me around, Wyatt."

"Well, you already know the saloon," Wyatt said, pointing to it. "Over there is the Murphy's General Store, best ice cream and soda on the island."

"What is the town's name?"

"Dodge City. That there is where most of your crew has been spending their free time and money," he said, pointing to a large two story house. The sign said 'Mrs. Kitty's'. "Better make sure to mention to your crew not to put the moves on Mrs. Kitty, the Marshal fancies her."

"I'll keep that in mind. By the way, you know someone that sells ships?"

"Not here, cap'. Not enough trees for that. But Tombstone, a town on the other side of the island, has some great ones for sell. Why, looking to sell that old brigantine?"

"Nah, the Morning Star is a great ship. Not a chance in hell that is ever going to happen. No, my crew isn't actually my crew. They are from a sunk ship that mine saved. My crew is actually rather small. Oh, that reminds me, I need to get more cannons. Not enough on her. Maiden forgive me."

"You'll want to speak to the black smith and gunsmith then. They are on the outskirts of town."

Naruto nodded as he followed. "So, what is Texas like?"

"Well, what is see is the whole of it really. The planes roll right on to the ocean. There is a town or farm stead where ever there is enough water. Plus there are Kiowa out on there. Friendly enough as long as you don't bother them. At one time, they were thought to be savages but they aren't. Roamers, the lot of them. Always changing camps, moving with the seasons and food. As far as we can tell, they have always lived on this island. Proud as can be, shamanic. Believes in the spirit of the earth of a god. Actually, I kind of like their beliefs better. That every living thing has a soul. Also they are a horse people. Never saw one before until the settlers came with them.

"Anyway, the island can get bad storms. Worst of them creates a tornado. A cyclone of wind that can tear anything above ground apart, humans included."

"How do the Kiowa avoid them?"

Wyatt smiled. "Now that is a trick they don't share. But as far as I can tell, not a single camp has ever been caught by one. Truly amazing if you ask me."

"Sounds like people worth meeting.

"They are. The ones that visit town always brings in the best pelts. Him over there with the dark skin and jet black hair is Running Bull. A trader for the Eagle Kiowa tribe. Came for knives and other basic supplies. He also has a sweet tooth," he said with a grin.

"Definitely an interesting place. So where would I go to find out information on a certain person, especially one that is causing trouble."

"...You a bounty hunter?"

"No. More soldier. And someone is causing trouble for my home."

"Well...I would try the Den. Bounty hunters usually gather there to hear the latest bounties. But that is also in Tombstone."

"I guess I have another reason to go there. One last thing, Wyatt. Where can I get and Eternal Pose? I have been getting one for each island I have visited so far along the Grand Line."

"...I believe the general store has some. Expensive though."

"Thanks." Naruto flipped him a gold piece.

Wyatt went wide eyed at this. "This could buy a pistol by itself! Two even!"

Naruto arched an eye brow at that. Apparently, even though the hold was full of the gold, it was still rare. "Well, call it a tip. And here is another. As good as a pistol is, a rifle is better. After all, everyone here has one. So it would be better if you could shoot the bad guy before they could shoot you."

The eight year old nodded. "This could buy one as well...with enough for some rounds."

"If being a legend means everything to you then buy one. But as much as you want to buy one, don't forget to be a kid as well. You won't be one for long."

—oo000oo—

Iruka sighed, things were slowly returning to normal. He was in the hospital, watching an old tape on the TV while he waited for the Hokage. He was to be released today. It was a video Naruto had made when he inadvertently got him and Anko together. Him and Anko had just been out for some fun and were at a club. Iruka hadn't planned on joining them but when Naruto saw him, he invited him in. Currently, him and Anko were up at the Karaoke machine, just started singing.

"**Well a man come on the six o clock news. Says somebody's been shot, somebody's been abused. Somebody blew up a building, somebody stole a car! Somebody got away, somebody didn't get too far. Yeah, he didn't get to far," **Naruto sang.

Anko started now. _ "Grandpapy told my pappy back day a man had to answer for the wicked ways that he done. Took all the rope in Texas, find a tall oak tree. Round up all of them bad boys and hang them high in the street. For all the people to see."_

They sang together now. _**"That justice is the one thing you should always find! You got to saddle up your boys! You got to draw a hard line! When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune and we'll all meet back at the locale saloon. And we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces, singing whiskey for my men and beer for my horses!**_

"**We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds. **_Too much corruption doing crime in the streets. _**Time for the long arm of the law set a few more in the ground.**_ Send them all to their maker and he'll set them on down._ **You can bet he'll set them down.**

"_**You know that justice is the one thing you should always find! You got to saddle up your boys! You got to draw a hard line! When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune and we'll all meet back at the locale saloon. And we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces, singing whiskey for my men and beer for my horses!**_

"_**Cause justice is the one thing you should always find! You got to saddle up your boys! You got to draw a hard line! When the gun smoke settles, we'll sing a victory tune and we'll all meet back at the locale saloon. And we'll raise up our glasses against evil forces, singing whiskey for my men and beer for my horses! Whiskey for my men and beer for my horses!"**_

He never understood what a car was nor where Texas was but the song came from across the ocean so he wasn't surprised.

The two laughed as the stepped down and came back to the table. "Hey, did you get that recorded, Iruka-sensei," Naruto asked with a huge grin on his face.

"I got it," both the Iruka in the tape and on the couch stated. "Not back, Anko. I never thought you could sing."

"Normally I can't," she told him. "And I can't explain why I did so well up there." Naruto grinned all the wider. Naruto ran back to sing another song. Anko moved closure to him. "Cute kid."

"Never dull around him," Iruka replied.

"...You know, he isn't the only cute one around here," Anko stated. The camera spun to face her. Iruka remembered that he had the most shocked look on his face right then. "And I love that scar..." She moved the camera and it was laid on table facing Naruto for a minute. "...How about you take me here again, Iruka?"

"...Why me?"

"Because Naruto never stops talking about what a nice guy you are," she told him, still off the screen. "And that was one hell of a kiss once you got into it." Naruto finished and turned back to them. "Hey, Iruka-sensei, Anko-chan! I got the perfect one for you two!" He pushed them up on the stage and pressed a few buttons. He then took the camera and looked at them. "Sing, sing, sing!"

Iruka stopped the video and laughed. Naruto had not been looking at them right then so he never knew. Boy, was it embarrassing to sing the song he chose for them. It was a song called 'When I said I do'. Never thought he would hear Anko say those words. Nor would he have ever thought Naruto would get them together so easily.

Running a hand through his hair, he wished that they were back. Or maybe he should have gone with them.

"Let me guess," Sarutobi said behind him. "Wishing they were here or you were there."

Iruka nodded as he stood and took the tape out. "I... It is boring around here without them. Makes me wonder how I survived without all the chaos they brought with them."

"...I know what you mean," Sarutobi stated. "Tsunade was able to heal my leg and arm but she said it all to clearly, I shouldn't do it anymore."

"You still got some years left, Hokage-sama" Iruka told him.

"Only for paper work," Sarutobi told him. "When I was your age, my bones would never have broken. I got old without even knowing it." He sighed. "Well, doesn't matter anyway. Tsunade is the Hokage now whether she likes it or not. And she doesn't."

"...You gave it up? But what about Naruto? He said he would take that hat from _you, _not someone else."

"Well, if he still wants it, he can still take it from his godmother." He smiled when he thought of something. "You know, he is the only person that can call her Baa-chan without being hurt." He stretched and popped a few joints. Tsunade had given him supplements to strengthen his bones back to what they were but still the damage was done. He knew now.

"...Hokage-sama...Sorry, Sarutobi-sama. But what if Naruto doesn't want to be anymore?"

"Why wouldn't he?"

"It's just that...he has been out at sea for a long time now. And might be there for longer. What if he has grown to love it out there more than he loves being a ninja?"

Sarutobi never thought of that. "...Well, in that case, when he comes back he will have to choose which. It is his decision."

Iruka nodded but couldn't image a Konoha that would never see a blond blur running from ANBU after a prank again. "...Yeah, it is."

—oo000oo—

"Anko-chan, looks like the place to search for information on people is in a place called the Den in the town Tombstone."

She nodded, looking at the crew around her. "What about a boat for them?"

"Also at Tombstone."

"...We'll split in two groups. One will go with you across the island so you can give the Log Pose time to change. The other will go with Hakari and Heero around the island to get there."

"Who am I taking? Zabuza, Haku, and Kisame will be of no use here, there is plenty of water but only in certain places."

Anko nodded. With a grin, she turned to Itachi. "Well, you look like you could use some walking time."

"Haven't been off a boat in six months," Itachi replied.

"Good, then you can go with Naruto. He is going across the island a foot and you with w few others will be joining him."

He arched an eyebrow. "I presume that I am the leader then?"

"Yes...with Naruto as second. Gaara, Kankuro, Baki, willing to go for a walk?"

"I do," Baki said. "I'm too damn old to grow sea legs."

"Hey, what about me," Temari demanded.

"You and Hunter seem to work well together. I would hate to break up that coupling." She didn't even try to hide her knowing grin. "Besides, I want you to help get the Morning Star to our destination while they are aligning the Log Pose."

Temari was going to say more but Hunter came up behind her. "Why not have us both go with them?"

Anko clenched her jaw. "And why are my orders being questioned by genin?"

Hunter held his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, just wondering why I wasn't being considered for this mission is all."

"Because I am not," she growled, losing her patience. "URGH! I can't wait until I get home to blow off some steam on Iruka! How can he stand being a teacher!?"

"I'm hurt Anko-chan," Sasuke said. "Have we truly been that annoying?" He ducked the swipe from Itachi who was again trying to get his book back. He look amazingly similar to a certain silver haired, masked jonin with his nose stuck in that book. "...Honestly, Naruto, where does your uncle come up with his inspiration!? To write books of this quality..."

"The hot springs," Naruto said off hand. "Gaara, Kankuro, you two coming with?"

"...How long on land," Gaara asked. Being on land meant that Shukaku could recover from his seasickness.

"I was told a horse running across it could make it in ten days. I'd say seven for us then."

"No, too long away from water."

"Understood." He looked at Kankuro. "And you?"

"...Yeah," he said with a half grin. "Always wanted to see how other countries live without shinobi."

"You coming Sasuke?"

"Nah, someone has to make sure Hakari can keep this ship running smoothly."

"He is," Itachi told them. "After all, we need some brotherly bonding..."

"Translation," Naruto stated, "teach him how to use his Sharigan and beat the hell out of him for keeping my books away from me."

Sasuke looked up from it. "Eh, you say something?"

Naruto couldn't help it, he had to finish the gag. "My eternal rival, your hip attitude burns me with youthful anger!" The Suna and former Kiri nins looked at him wondering what the hell he was talking about. The Konoha nins started to shake before they burst out in laughter.

"Get off the boat," Anko told him. "We'll see you in two weeks at the most."

"I need Hinata and Yugito to come with me. The rifle will be helpful if we get attacked, unlikely but possible."

Anko doubted that was why or at least all of it. But she nodded. "Hinata, Yugito, go with him."

"Heero," Naruto called to him before he did. "If your men go to Mrs. Kitty's, make sure they leave Mrs. Kitty alone, the law here has a thing for her and he doesn't seem the type to tolerate anyone being rude to her."

"Got it."

"Also, I am going to arrange for more and better cannons so make sure to pick them up before you set sail." He saluted, meaning he understood. So Naruto walked off the ship with the others.

—oo000oo—

"How many of these hundred pounders you got," Naruto asked the blacksmith.

He looked away from his anvil to the weapon in question. "Seven, fifty dollars each."

"Dollars? That a lot?"

"You could buy a pistol for five. Room and bored for a week, for the lot of you, is the same price."

"...So these are worth ten dollars?" He held up a gold coin. This was actually the first time he looked at one. It was round, thin, and had an eagle on it.

The blacksmith looked at it. "Yeah, gold eagle. Ten dollars."

"...I thought all the islands on the Grand Line used Berries."

"Our Government isn't part of theirs," he told him. "So we keep exchange simple by using gold. Universal currency after all."

"You know, you are not the first person I heard say that. I'll take all seven and three of those seventy five pound canons."

He never stopped swinging his hammer. "Four hundred, thirty dollars. Don't like the price, go to Austin, a town down the coast a day's ride."

"Let me guess, even if I went there, the price is the same?"

"More than likely."

Naruto nodded and counted out the gold. "Here you go. Also, I was wondering if you do work not related to ships, horses, and wagons?"

"Just about anything you can think of. What do you need?"

"I need this made," Naruto gave him a piece of paper. "To those exact specifications."

"...Well now, isn't this something. This will take time to make. ...Cha-titanium? Never heard of it."

"A special alloy that allows energy to move through it. You make it by combining iron with nickel, zinc, phosphorous, an ore called titanium, bronze, and platinum. The ratio is sixty three percent iron, seventeen percent bronze, nine percent nickel, seven percent zinc, three percent titanium, and one percent platinum."

The man let out a low whistle. "That is quite a list."

"It is written down on the back."

"...Not sure if I can make all that but I can at least get it to you in a block to have someone finish it. But in truth, that doesn't sound the strongest metal out there."

"Over time, if not properly cared for, it becomes brittle. That is the original. But the titanium should remove that."

"Yeah, about that. You know that has a three thousand degree melting point, right?"

"Thus the phosphorous. It burns a forge almost to the point that it breaks. Think this can handle it?"

"...Honestly, I don't know."

"How long until you can have it done?"

"If I start right now, I can have the whole thing done in a few days. I won't be able to fold it like you want. Titanium won't allow it."

"...I didn't think you could. But it was worth the try. I'll pay for the supplies and fifty for the work."

"Seventy five."

"Sixty, no more."

"Done."

"A man name Heero and some of the crew will pick the canons up. Make sure they know that there is more to pick up." He walked out of the blacksmith and went over the the gunsmith. He saw Itachi frowning as he looked at the weapon.

"Naruto, what are we doing here? These are of no use to us."

"Itachi, remember when I kill one of those masked creatures?"

"Yes, something that still surprises me."

"I did it using this." Naruto took the Medusa out and showed it to him. "What does it take to defeat the best ninja?"

That frowned deepened. "For him to be unable to form complete handsigns or move fast."

"This can fire a piece of metal so fast, no ninja can dodge it. I hesitate to think about what it would do to Gaara's sand shield. A normal person can kill a shinobi with one of these without ever being seen or caught. I believe that is something worth being able to counter act it. After all, that puppet of Sasori's was damaged to the point he couldn't use it because of timid Hinata."

"...I see." He went up to the clerk. "What is the best ones you have here?"

"The best? Depends on what you want to use it for. I got a Buffalo rifle here that can drop a buffalo with one shot. An impossible thing for a normal rifle. I got a three fifty seven magnum handgun behind me."

"Try one for a person that can't shoot," Naruto said.

"I think I got the thing right here." He reached down and grabbed a gun. It looked like one of the double barrel shotguns but with no butt stock and barrel was only half a foot long. "This belonged to a blind man. He usually just listened for the guy and fire."

"What happened to him," Itachi asked.

"He was in the saloon talking to someone and the piano player was playing. He couldn't hear the person so he shot the player and they hung him."

Itachi sighed. He had resisted using the Tsukiomi over the years. He could count the number of time on both hands with some fingers left. But even that few damaged his eyes. He no longer hit the perfect center of a bullseye. Most people would be glad they could still hit the black but to him, this meant just how far his eyes had fallen. To make up for it, he had begun to use his Sharigan all the time starting a few years back. "How does it work that a blind man could use it?"

"Fires one of these shells. It holds several dozen ball bearings that scatter. Doesn't go farther than twenty feet before they spread too far to be of use."

Naruto came looked at it. "Too short a range. That pump action shotgun. The forty five magnum. And the..."

"Plasma rifle with the forty watt range," Kankuro said and they looked at him. "What, never seen the movie?" They shook their heads no.

"...Anyway. The colt and let me see that buffalo rifle." The guns he said were put on the counter. Naruto lifted the buffalo rifle up. "It's heavy."

"What do you expect from something that fires this?" He lifted up a round that was two and a half inches long and an inch wide.

"God almighty," Naruto said.

"What is so special about that," Sasuke asked.

"This, boy, could tear you in half," the clerk said. "When you fire it make sure you hold it good and tight to your shoulder or else you will break your collar bone."

"You joking," Kankuro asked. "You telling me that will break bones just from the recoil?"

"Yes," was the reply. "Which one you want to buy?"

Naruto was looking over each of them. "All of them."

"Might just close early today."

"...This sound familiar. Your not going to kill him, are you?"

Naruto looked at Kankuro. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"Never mind. So, which is for me?"

"...None," Naruto said, making sure there was no loaded weapon within his reach. "How much for them?"

"The guns are five dollars each. The rifles are ten each. A box of rounds for each is two and a half." Naruto nodded and gave him the money, enough for the weapons and three boxes for each. "...Better make it six boxes for the buffalo rifle, not many of those in a box."

—oo000oo—

Yugito checked the sights on her magnum and holstered it. "The wight throws me off a little but I will manage."

"Itachi, what do you think of that buffalo rifle," Naruto asked him.

"...I'm not sure. But whatever it takes to win."

Sasuke fixed the shotgun with a rope so he could sling it across his chest.

Holding the colt, Naruto looked at Kankuro. "...What the hell was that in there?"

"Hey, you just said the same lines as the movie. The next part in the movie was loading a shell inside the shotgun and shooting the clerk."

"This is real life, not some movie. What is the name of the damn thing anyway?"

"The Terminator. You going to keep that thing or are you going to give it to me?"

Naruto frowned before handing it over. "Make sure to keep that end pointed at our enemies." He gave him the boxes of ammo. "I'll go get us some horses."

"Well just tree run," Sasuke started to say before taking a good look at the path they were going to take. There were no trees to run through. "Horses sound good."

"Captain," Wyatt called coming up to them. "You about to leave town?"

"Yeah, why?"

"A caravan is about to as well. They pay good for hired guns if you are looking for some extra money."

Naruto thought about it. "They heading to Tombstone?" He nodded yes. "Itachi, your call. We could use the extra gold but we can last a while on what we have."

"Something I learned from Kakuzu was never pass up the chance to get more funds because you never know when you will need more than you have. Lead the way, Wyatt." The boy stared at his eyes for a moment before leading him to the man that was leading it.

"So, you are supposed to be the sailors that can help me?"

"Maybe," Itachi said.

"Nice eyes. Adds a nice touch to that glare. But I don't need sailors, I need fighters. The Crow are causing trouble and I want to get those colts to Tombstone, not give them to those thieves. I don't need weaklings."

"Did he just..." Sasuke growled.

"Wow," Naruto said when he notice a twitch from Itachi. "I never thought I would see this day."

"And what is that, boy?"

"That someone would call not one but two Uchiha weak. Especially when one of them has killed more than two hundred people while in service of our village." That was Itachi's record while still in ANBU.

"Okay, maybe the adult is skilled enough to help. But I don't need children on this."

"My village raises soldiers, not children," Itachi told him.

"And the Crow are warriors. What makes you think these five are good enough."

Itachi smiled and looked at them. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"I will," Yugito said as she walked up and sat on the table. Fire surrounded her and she became Nekomata. _**"I could kill everything in the village even with those puny guns."**_ The killing intent made him shit himself. The fires receded and she smiled at him. "While Naruto kun can kill you with just some sounds. Hinata-chan with a touch. Kankuro can make you believe you are fighting him or three monsters. And Sasuke is on his way to becoming as skilled as his older brother." She wrinkled her nose. "Go change yourself."

A hired gun on the other side of the room was very pale but in better shape than the man. "You could have said you were Devil Fruit users."

"We aren't. And even if we were, that was more fun."

—oo000oo—

It was noon and nothing had happen so far. So, to help pass the time, Naruto did what he did best. He took Fuka-hone from his back and started singing.

"Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'. Keep movin', movin', movin'. Though they're disapprovin', Keep them doggies movin' Rawhide!Don't try to understand 'em, just rope and throw and grab 'em. Soon we'll be living high and wide. Boy my heart's calculatin', my true love will be waitin', be waiting at the end of my ride.

"Move 'em on, head 'em up, head 'em up, move 'em out, move 'em on, head 'em out rawhide! Set 'em out, ride 'em in, ride 'em in, let 'em out, cut 'em out, ride 'em in, rawhide!

"Rollin', rollin', rollin', thought the streams are swollen, keep them doggies rollin', rawhide! Rain and wind and weather, hell bent on leather, wishing my gal was by my side. All the things I'm missing, good vittles, love and kissin', are waiting at the end of my ride.

"Move 'em on, head 'em up, head 'em up, move 'em out, move 'em on, head 'em out rawhide! Set 'em out, ride 'em in, ride 'em in, let 'em out, cut 'em out, ride 'em in, rawhide!

"Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'. Keep movin', movin', movin'. Though they're disapprovin', Keep them doggies movin' Rawhide!Don't try to understand 'em, just rope and throw and grab 'em. Soon we'll be living high and wide. Boy my heart's calculatin', my true love will be waitin', be waiting at the end of my ride. Rawhide! Rawhide!"

—oo000oo—

Sasuke groaned as they stopped for the night. He glared at the horse that, if he didn't know better, seemed to take pleasure from his pain. "I should send you to a glue factory." The horse just whinnied.

Naruto felt that would have been the best moment for one of his snappy comebacks. But he was in just as bad a shape. His legs were killing him. Actually, the person in best shape was Kankuro. "You ride horses before?"

"Better to ride them than walk through a dessert," he replied. He was tinkering with on of his puppets, Salamander. "Itachi-san, why are you so unsure of guns?"

"What it all comes down to is luck," he told him. "When you fire, then wind could shift and you miss. The ammunition might lose enough power to kill the target. You might think you are aiming at the target but if your eyesight is off or the barrel is crooked, you miss. Just too much unknown for me."

"It is more skill than luck," Naruto said. "Just give them a try and chance." They all jumped up with kunai, and Fuka-hone for Naruto, in hand when they heard the drums.

"Looks like the Kiowa Crow already knows about us," someone by the wagon said. "My guess is tomorrow or the day after you will earn your keep." The drums never stopped all through the night.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: Yes, I did quote The Terminator. For songs on this one are Beer for my horses and Rawhide. Originally, I was thinking about having Naruto sing I Can Still Feel You instead of Beer for my Horses as it was supposed to mean just how much Iruka missed both Naruto and Anko. But I think I made that clear already at the Icharuka Ramen.

Now, in case you haven't gotten it, Haku and Hunter. Hunter is simply the name Haku takes on while wearing the mask, thats all. Just like Usopp and Sogeking. So, what kind of ship should the next Evening Star be? A frigate like the Black Pearl?


	21. Chapter 21

"Tayuya," Kimimaro called to her. He was standing, barely, and helping her hold the room. Once it became known that Orochimaru was dead, the whole place went rampant. "Me and Kidomaru are finished. Leave us."

"Fuck no!" Her ogres killed several more of the ninja. But all of them as well as her were bleeding from woulds.

"Look," Kidomaru said while holding his still wounded stomach, "it's not that I'm not flattered or that I want to die. But you know we are done for. No use in you dying with us." One of his arms pulled the string of his bow back and let the arrow slip free. It went right through several ninja running down the hall. "And we are going to be taking some of them with us."

"But what the hell can I do by myself!? We already know that I am no fucking good with ninjutsu and I'm not skilled enough with taijutsu to get out of here!"

The two looked at each other and nodded. "I guess we don't have a choice," Kimimaro said after coughing up a little blood. "Kidomaru, block the entrances." A web covered both doors to the hospital wing.

"Thanks," Tayuya said, panting from how long she had been playing. "What..." She felt something hit her in the back of her head and she fell back, stunned. "What did you do to me!?"

"A paralyzing jutsu," Kidomaru told her. He summoned a large spider. "When I tell you to, take her out of here."

"You fucks! You can't do this! I...I can't survive on my own!"

Kimimaro looked her in the eyes. "Then I guess we better make sure you can. Help me, Kidomaru." They laid her on a table. "Get me a needle and anesthetic." He filled it up with morphine and shot a little in her left arm.

"What... What are you doing?"

"Bone marrow transplant," he told her. "We will need to hold this room secure for about forty eight hours while the rest of her body follows," he told Kidomaru.

"Think we have that long?"

"...I doubt it but I will protect Tayuya long enough to get her out of here." A thin, hollow bone came from Kimimaro's hand and he inserted it into her arm and bone. Breaking it off, blood flowed from it into a bowl. "Luckily I paid attention to Kabuto." After her bone was empty and was about to begin to die, he removed the draining bone and put a new one in. This one stayed attached. Blood flowed straight from Kimimaro to Tayuya.

"...Can't she get sick from that?"

"Doesn't work like that, Kidomaru. My lungs are what is sick, not my blood. She will be fine."

"But..." Tayuya moaned, the morphine not dulling this pain. Kidomaru gave her another injection before finishing. "Think she will ever forgive us? I wouldn't."

"Likely not but she is our continued existence now." He withdrew bone and put pressure on the wound. "Close it," he commanded Kidomaru. With the bone now healed, they strapped her down. "Give her another shot."

"But she is already floating in the clouds."

"Give it, twenty milligrams. Because she is going to hurt." He was right. Now long later, her whole body tensed and strained against the bindings. "When you give a person a bone marrow transplant, the new blood replaces their old blood. They are still the same and yet they are different. She will kind of be a mix of me and her. And she will have my bloodline."

"Yeah, I heard about that. Where people that have gotten organ transplants will do things out of the normal for them but completely normal for the people they have gotten the organs from." Kidomaru turned to the spider. "If we fall, make sure she gets out of here. Hey, Kimimaro, when this is over and we arrive at heaven or hell, how about I buy you a drink. We never really got to know each other."

"That will be a good arrangement." They faced the people trying to tear through the webs, some for the medical supplies. Others just wanted to kill them.

"Hey," came the call behind them west door. "This a private slaughter or can anyone join?" A fight broke out between them and the person. With water seeping under the webs that blocked their view. Soon it was over. "Whew! That was fun!" Something pressed against the webs. "Mind if I come in? I didn't think so!" A large sword hit the wall and cut the part the web was attached to off. A boy holding a rather poor quality zanbatou in hand stepped in. His teeth were slightly sharp and his hair was water blue. "Knock knock... Damn, I was hoping it was some more people I can have fun with. Not some sick punks."

"Shut the fuck up," Kidomaru yelled.

"...Well now, if it isn't the Sound Five. Trying to save yourselves, eh," Suigetsu asked.

"No," Kimimaro told him. "Nothing can save us now. We are trying to save someone else."

He frowned. "Damn swordsman honor. Fine, I won't kill you. But where is someone I can kill?"

They pointed to the other door. "Ah, you even wrapped it," he said with a laugh. "Time to tear open the packaging!" This time he tore right through the webbing. "Hello boys."

Kidomaru sighed as he began to kill them. "Why did it have to be him?"

"Kami knows," Kimimaro stated. He pulled a bone from his arm shaped like a sword and began to attack them as well. Still frowning, Kidomaru began sniping them again.

—oo000oo—

Tayuya's vision was coming in and out. She didn't know how long she had been lying there but she could tell it had been a while. With a moan, she said, "My whole body hurts you fuckers..."

"Look out," someone shouted when sound came crashing in around her.

"God damn it," Kidomaru cursed. "How do you like it!?" A scream of pain came after he said that followed by the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart.

"...I won't be able to use this arm again," Kimimaro said.

"What is..." Her stomach lurch, making her want to throw up.

"Suigetsu, grab Tayuya and go with the spider," Kidomaru shouted.

"Like hell..."

"Go, now!" The sound of one of the gas tanks being punctured filled the room. The hiss of leaking gas and the smell reached Tayuya.

"Kimimaro, this isn't funny, what is going on?" To say she was scared was an understatement. She couldn't see, she was restrained to a table, and a fight was all around her. "Guys...what the fuck is going on!?" Someone grabbed her and released the restraints.

"Glad to know you survived," Suigetsu told her. "Hang on tight!" He jumped on the spider and it ran like hell away from the room.

—oo000oo—

"Good, she is gone," Kidomaru said before collapsing. His breathing was getting shallower. "All for a precious person," he said as his eyes were growing distant.

"How long ago," Kimimaro asked as he stabbed another one.

"Must have been twelve hours. Been forcing myself to keep it up ever since."

Someone with a spear came at Kimimaro's blind spot, he was missing an eye now, and ran a spear through him. He looked at the spear, grabbed the shaft, pushed it farther through him so the man was closer. Raising the blade up, he drove it into the man's chest and heart. He fell to his knees after that and looked at his friend. His eyes were empty now. "...They may kill us. But they will not get Tayuya nor anyone else." He grabbed a flare from the supplies that Tayuya had grabbed and tore off the end. As his own sword was driven into his chest, he slammed the end down, igniting it.

—oo000oo—

Suigetsu, Tayuya, and the spider was thrown to the grown as the Hidden Sound Village behind them was destroyed. The spider disappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Shit..." he groaned, looking at the branch that went through his chest. "Now exactly what I pictured would happened in this get away."

"...Suigetsu," Tayuya asked as she lifted her head to look at him. "Where is Kimimaro and Kidomaru? Where the fuck are they!?"

He point behind her. "Playing harps now. The fucks sacrificed themselves so you could get out and survived."

"..." She looked at him again and glared. "What the fuck!? Besides that stick, you don't have a scratch on you!"

"Special case for me," he groaned.

"I swear, I am going to kill you when I get to you!" She began to drag herself over to them. "You left them to fight alone!"

"They told me to leave... And I am no martyr."

"You son of a bitch... YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She forced herself to stand and tried to pick up his sword. "I will fucking kill you!"

"Want some help," came from behind her. She spun and saw a man in a black coat with silver hair and shoulder pads. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Davy Jones. Tell me miss, are you afraid of death?"

"FUCK NO! I have nothing to live for! No one to live fucking with!"

"Hmm, well now... How about I give it to you? A purpose, and a person. All I need in return is your blood."

"There is only one fucking purpose I want! I want to find the person that made my team blow up and kill the fucker! After I kill him!"

Jones smiled and pulled Suigetsu from the tree. "What about you, are you afraid to die?"

"Not a chance in hell," he replied. He spit on the man's face. "Let her kill me if she can."

"She won't get it," he replied. He dropped him, drew a katana, and slashed, trying to take his head off. But Tayuya got in the way. The blade went right through her arm...until it hit the bone and stopped. It sounded like it hit metal. "Isn't that interesting."

"What..."

"Kimimaro gave you his blood. Your bones are diamond hard now."

"And I know that is something I can use," he said, lifting her into the air by her throat. "You are coming with me."

"NO!" Suigetsu picked his sword up and lunged at him. But Jones caught him first and slammed him to the ground. Where he seemed to shatter. There was no flesh, only blood that covered everything.

"...This continent never ceases to amaze me." He turned back to Tayuya. "Too bad really, I could have used him to feed my Blood Tree. It reacts oh so well to those with chakra." He began to fade from view. "By the way, I saw the explosion. It was done by a man I found recently by the name of Sasori. So, think of it like this, at least you might get the chance to kill him." He vanished, never noticing some of the bloody water had moved onto his body on it's own.

—oo000oo—

"...We are being hunted," Itachi stated. The feeling that they were being watched had not left since last night. The part that none of the ninja believed though was that they could not find the people that were watching them. Not even Itachi.

"Finally figured that out, huh," one of the horse wranglers asked. It was eight in the morning and the sun had been up for three hours. Meaning they have been riding for three hours. "The Kiowa Crow tribe is out there, as you heard last night. They want our supplies and horses."

"Who are these 'Crow'," Kankuro asked.

"Used to be one of the cliff dwelling Kiowa," he replied. "Them, the Eagle, and the Heron. The Beast tribe dwell on the plains while the Dragon tribe live in the mountains at the island edge to the north. Like the other two bird tribes, they stuck to themselves, living in places others really couldn't get to. And like all other Kiowa, they made some, but very little, trade. Well, about ten years ago, there was this huge blow out. Seems the old tribe leader died and a new guy took his place, a man by the name of Naesala. And he doesn't have much use for people like us. The stories are thin and sketchy but it is rumored that his family was killed or enslaved.

"I believe something like all that happened, wouldn't be the first. Which is probably why he got his tribe to agree to attack us." The man took a drink from his canteen. "For now, he seems content to settle on attacking people that cross the plains to the south of his cliffs." He pointed to the distant north to a gorge with a river at the bottom. "But tha' won't last much longer. He will do something to get even."

"I saw a Kiowa back in town, Running Bull, what tribe is he," Naruto asked.

"Beast tribe," the man replied. "And tha' ain't his actual name. Just the only one he is willing to give people. By the way, name is Cole Thornton."

"Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto said with a nod.

"Itachi Uchiha."

"Well, since you are new here, I will also explain this. Watch the skies more than the ground. And look for ravens and crows." They nodded to him as he went riding to catch a stray.

"Ravens and crows," Kankuro stated. "What, they have summons or something? Nah, there is no Raven Contract."

"There is," Itachi told him. "I signed it myself."

"Oh... What about you, brat," Kankuro said, turning to Sasuke, seeing him reading as he rode. "You sign that as well?"

"Not yet," Sasuke replied. "Given time, I will."

"I already told you what it will take, twip," Itachi growled. Sasuke only shrugged as he turned the page. And mouthed what Itachi said next. "You want anything from me, you give me back my books!"

"Brother, there are plenty of contracts out there. And even more ninja that do well without them." Without looking, he turned his horse and blocked one of the mares that was starting to move from the herd. "Back in, girl."

"HOW DOES HE DO THAT," Kankuro demanded.

"Not that hard," Naruto told him, rereading Outlaw Star just to frustrate him.

Kankuro gritted his teeth. "Everywhere I turn, there are brats... For the love of Kami!" Itachi was now doing it with Jiriaya's first book. All three of them shared a laugh as the two put their books away.

"Hinata-chan, do you see any ravens or such around," Naruto asked her.

Activating her Byakugan, she looked around. "There are a bunch circling something up ahead at the river a quarter of a mile downstream where we will cross."

"Carrion then," Itachi said.

—oo000oo—

Naruto kept glancing in the direction the crows and ravens were. They were still there. The water covered his boots as he rode the horse across the stream. "How long does it take for that many to eat a corpse?"

"Not long," Sasuke replied, putting his book away.

"...Are the birds normally that big," Yugito asked Cole. She pointed above her to several huge birds.

Cole looked at them and started shouting. "Crow ambush!"

The figures dropped to the ground, revealing not giant birds but men and woman with giant bird wings on their backs. In there hands were knives and swords. They dived so fast that most gunmen didn't clear leather before the stabbed and were climbing again.

"They have wings!?" Naruto shouted while he pulled the Medusa and fired a round at one of the trailing Crow.

"Why else do they call themselves the Crow," Thornton demanded. His six gun flashed like lightning as he fired six times. His shots all hit but the distance and wind made them miss vitals.

"Bastard," one of the wounded crow shouted. He pulled something harnessed between his wings and bent it. It was a collapsing crossbow. Notching a bolt in it, he fired and it got Thornton in the shoulder.

"Damn!"

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke shot a fireball into the air. "Itachi, how do we ground them!?"

"...Summoning no Jutsu!" A raven as big as a horse appeared. "I could use some help here, Hane-san."

"With what, Itachi-san," the raven asked. When Itachi pointed at the attackers, the raven chuckled. "Ah, the hatchlings. Haven't seen them in some time. Just a moment." He flew up into the air. "Shouldn't you still be with your nest mothers," Hane asked. He spread his wings as far as he could and flapped them forward. A gust of wind knocked them back and away.

"What are you doing here," one of the brasher Crow demanded.

"My summoner called me, hatchling," Hane explained as if talking to a child. He roared as if insulted and brought his wings about him. He changed into a giant crow of the same size. He gave a shriek before he dove at him. But even in this form, he was nothing more than the hatchling he was called to the summon. His feathers ruffled and missing, he retreated.

"What the hell is going on," another yelled. They heard a giant meow and saw Yugito had changed into her demi-demon form. "Hell, one of the beast tribe is here! We have to retreat for now!" He turned just in time to see the giant cat jump up and land on one of his comrades. "SHIT!" They all flew off.

Yugito sat on the struggling Crow. "Ger off me," he yelled through the dirt. "Mangy cat! You know this will lead to war between our tribes!"

Yugito tilted her head as the fires receded. "Tribes? Cat? I believe you are confused. Take a good look at me, do I look like I belong to a tribe? And it sounds like you see someone change into a giant cat daily."

"...What in the wind? ...Who are you?"

"I am Nii Yugito from the West Blue. That was something else entirely. Now what is going on here?"

He sneered. "Like I will tell you anything, _human_."

Naruto sighed, he knew that tone. Hakari called him that just like he said it when they first met. "I will handle it, Yugito-chan." He got off his horse and took Fuka-hone from his back. "Ready," he asked her. The guitar hummed. He started playing a tune and the Crow took on a distant look. Then he grabbed his wings and started thrashing around, screaming. When he stopped, Naruto asked, "Ready to talk?"

"Yes! Yes!"

—oo000oo—

Naruto sighed when the man finally stopped talking. "And that is all I know! Please, just don't make me see that again!"

"...Alright I won't. Fold your wings close to your back and put your arms over them." When Zavala, he even told him his name, did as he was told, Naruto bound his wings close and tied his arms together. "Until we can parley with your leader, you are stuck on the ground." Behind him, Cole came up to him. "Hey Cole... WHAT THE HELL!?" Cole had just held his gun out and shot Zavala in the stomach. "Hold still, hold still!" Naruto was trying to get the man that was rolling around on the ground in pain to stop so he could see it.

"Thornton, why did you do that, he was a prisoner," Itachi demanded.

"And he is Crow," Cole replied. "Do you know how many has probably died by him?"

"This was his first raid," Naruto yelled. "Zavala, Zavala, stop moving so I can see it!"

Zavala did...so he could spit in his face. "Wasn't enough, was it _human_!? Making me see those things! No, you tied me up so you could kill me easier! Naesala was right about all of you!" His face was growing very pale. "Disgusting creatures, if I could I would drop all of you from the top of our cliffs to see if you can fly before hitting the rocks below!"

Naruto didn't say anything, he just put pressure on the wound to keep him from bleeding to death. "Hinata-chan, where did the bullet hit?"

"J, Just left of his spine, forth lumbar down."

Itachi growled. "You were aiming to make him hurt," he accused Thornton.

"Damn straight," he growled back. "The bastards killed my uncle. My blood. Blood for blood."

"And eye for an eye and the world is blind," Yugito told him before she punched him in the stomach. "He is our prisoner, you had no right. Itachi-san, can you..."

"He can," Sasuke told her. "After all, he is my brother."

"Kankuro, I can use a hand here," Naruto called. "Make sure no one else tries some shit like that!"

He nodded, summoned Salamander and controlled it with one hand while the other held his Colt. "Any of you try something and I will kill you."

"Yugito, Sasuke, hold his legs," Itachi told them as he knelt by the teenager on the ground. Zavala was barely more than a boy. "Naruto, I need to see the wound." Zavala barely had the strength to kick anymore. And was telling them to just kill him already. "Hinata, I will need you to point where it is exactly later." He made several handsigns and his hands glowed with a soft yellow light. He press it to his stomach and Zavala tensed for a moment before going limp.

"What did you do?"

"I am accelerating the growth of cells in your stomach, making it heal. This will make you age a few months, meaning you life will be shorter but that is better than the alternative." When he took his hands away, it was gone. The only sign that he had been hit was the hole in his black, blood stained shirt. "Hinata?"

Moving him on his stomach, Hinata touched the flesh above it. "Two inches down."

Itachi took a kunai out and made an incision there to get it out. Using chakra to pull it out, he looked at the bullet for a moment before he began to stitch the cut close. "I guess you got a memento of when you almost died." He stood up and went to the caravan master. "I want a wagon set up that only we have access to. He will survive and will be in our care until we leave."

"That man is a murderer," he told Itachi.

"And so is Cole Thornton had I not been there. He is our prisoner. Now either set up a wagon or we leave."

"Fine then. Enjoy your trip across the island." He turned from Itachi and shouted, "We're moving out! The sailors have no taste for the way we handle things." He stopped when he felt a kunai against his throat.

"You are right, I don't," Itachi told him. "Don't forget we brought seven horses with us."

"...I haven't forgotten. Bond, untie that seventh horse of theirs and bring it here!"

One of the stabbed horsemen came riding up. "Here it is." He looked at Zavala then at Itachi. "We are going to need someone with your skills here soon."

"Your employer has made it clear we will not continue with them."

Bond turned to the older man. "We will have three dead by sundown now, sir." He spat on the ground and went riding off.

The Caravan was about to reconsider it but when he turned around, he saw Zavala had already been helped up on the horse and they were riding away. "Wait! You can't just leave now!" They didn't hear him or they ignored him.

—oo000oo—

Naruto yawned as he looked at the fire in the center of their camp. It was unsettling, not feeling the rocking motion. He may get little sleep while at sea but it was better than what he got now. He looked over at Zavala and sighed. Forced healing like what Itachi did always leaves a person hungrier than they had ever been. He didn't even notice that he ate three chickens by himself and asked if Kankuro hid them up his sleeves or something. There was no way three chickens were eaten that fast.

To eat and sleep, they had untied his arms but left his wings tied and had tied his feet. "So where do you plan on taking me," Zavala asked him, breaking the silence.

"Home," Naruto told him.

"To be a slave," Zavala assumed.

"That what they do to your people when they get captured and let go?"

"What? You are letting me go?"

"No reason to keep you," Naruto told him. "Personally, I am going to try to get Naesala to stop with these attacks."

"He won't," Zavala told him. "They called you sailors, right?"

"Yes."

"Once there were six tribes on this island. The second Heron tribe lived in the only forest in Texas, the only one. They never practiced war like the other tribes did. Art, music, that were their weapons. Eleven years ago, that forest and the Herons were wiped from the earth. Those that lived joined there cousins in the gorge pass my home, protected by us. The Heron tribe were tree folk. They lived in harmony with nature, taking bounty from it. They lived a top the tallest trees to avoid conflict.

"Until the first settlers came. We made our terms simple. Leave our homes and our people alone. The captured children for slaves and women for... brothels." His nails were cutting into his palm from how tight he gripped his fist. "The forced the Beast from their homes. They couldn't reach the Eagles or Crow tribes. And they were too afraid of even a single Dragon to go against them. The beast, though at times seeming slow, are unrivaled warriors."

"Leaving the Heron," Naruto finished.

"Them and their trees. At first it was small, cutting down a tree here, a tree there. But soon, the Herons found themselves with the choice of fight or flight. King Naesala was only a boy when the first Herons came. He father eagerly put them in the gorge just pass our home, promising to protect them. And we have since that day. But not all of them came. They were the caretakers of the trees. It was their duty to protect them, to care for them. One in that group asked the assembled Kings not long later to send help to defend their homes.

"The beast tribe did not hesitate. Twenty men and women went there and chased the loggers and slavers away. They thought their task was done and left as heroes. But the humans came back. But this time not for wood or slaves. For blood. The forest is only blackened earth now. Not a single Heron that stayed survived."

Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat. "But he will never drive away the humans here."

"He knows that. He is trying to hurt certain ones. The port city of Tombstone. They are the murderers that caused this."

Naruto nodded to him. "If I untie you, will you go request that we speak with Naesala and give us the reply?"

"...Yes."

Naruto smiled and stood up. He moved around the fire...

A black shadow moved between him and Zavala, sending him spinning to the ground. Naruto looked up to see a giant raven climbing into the sky. Another dived on him, sunk its talons into Naruto's shoulders, and carried him off. "You killed one of us, so King Naesala is going to kill you in return," Naruto was told as the crow climbed higher and higher. Soon, he caught sight of a city in the stone walls around them. "Welcome to your death."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: Been a while since I did this one but I am feeling motivated now so this was done quickly. I did use Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance when I made the Kiowa. And as for Tayuya getting Kimimaro's abilities through a bone marrow transplant, it isn't impossible. This was inspired by an episode of Law and Order where the criminal gave a spit sample because he knew it would never much the blood sample they collected at the crime scene.


	22. Chapter 22

Naruto's kidnapper set him down on a platform that led into the main keep. He landed and changed back into his humanoid form. Naruto ran his hands over the wounds in his shoulders. "There are better ways to get someone to talk to them."

Of the two other people there, his guards he presumed, the one in black leather gave a light laugh while taking the Medusa and his other weapons. He didn't think the Fuka-hone was one. "You are going to talk alright," he said to Naruto. The one in armor pushed Naruto in the back to get him moving. Naruto shrugged as he did.

"I was actually planning on coming here anyway. Wanted to talk to your king." He got another push. "...They teach you manners? ...I guess not. What about you," he asked the one in leather. "It is considered rude where I am from to talk to someone without introducing yourself first."

"Shut up," the one in armor said as he once again pushed Naruto, making him stumble.

Naruto straightened and turned to him. "You better stop that before something bad happens to you." He grinned and pushed Naruto in the chest. Naruto took a deep breath and looked up and down the hall. There were other guards moving around but they were not close by. "I warned you."

"What are you going to do, human," the man sneered. "You can barely lift your arms. You have no weapons."

"I am a ninja of Konoha. I am the weapon." His boot came up and shot into his chest plate. It caved under the strength behind the kick and the man slammed into the wall. Putting more pressure on that foot, he raised the other and kicked him in the head. As he slid to the ground, Naruto pulled his boot free of the ruined armor. He looked back to the other. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, introductions."

The man looked from him to the soldier on the ground. The sound of footsteps came, signaling that some had seen the actions of this boy and came running. He held up his hand, stopping them. "I am Naesala, the man you were hoping to meet. That is the second of my people you have injured."

"I warned him. The first attacked me. I fail to see why we are even having this conversation."

"For my raider that you captured. One of others saw him get gut shot."

"I wasn't the one who shot him. I helped him. More over, we left the caravan because of such things."

Naesala looked at him with contempt written on his face. "You are human, why should I trust you?"

"Because I am not even from this island. You are just another one of the weird things I will see here."

"A sailor... It matters not. You are human, with a beast slave. You are going to die."

Naruto shook his head. "Yugito isn't a slave nor a beast. She is, like I, a Jinchuuriki. I'd show you but I don't have it down yet."

"More human lies."

Naruto sighed. "My first mate is a fishman. So is another of my crew members. I am not a... speciesist."

"Prove it," Naesala challenged.

"Your man is still alive. I just hope he has told the others what happened."

Naesala froze and the guards began to talk amongst themselves. "He was shot in the stomach. Gunshots there don't heal very well."

"He is alive, well, and eating everything we brought with us." He grinned, "Amazing the things you can learn to do. Including saving a person on the brink of death."

Naesala looked at him for a moment before he raised one of his hands. One of the leaner Crow stepped forward. "Go, see if what this human has said is true. You, get him to a doctor. Escort him to the thrown room." The one ran back down the way they came. Two grabbed the unconscious guard and carried him away. The rest aimed their weapons at Naruto and had him walked down the hall to the room.

"Oh, King Naesala, it is also rude not to introduce yourself when given someone's name. I am Uzumaki Naruto. I hope this stay is productive."

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked around the room, surprised by its simplicity. It had a balcony for them to easily leave and enter. He went out on it and looked around. There was still light enough out to see things. After thinking about it, he decided he needed to blend in a little. "Henge no jutsu." The changes weren't viewable while he was still wearing his hat and coat. He heard something behind him and turned around. Someone had been waiting in the room, apparently. "Hello."

This girl walked out from behind the thrown. Her hair was blond and her wings were white. She looked at him in contemplation, saying nothing.

"I am Naruto of Konoha. You don't look like the Crow I have seen thus far. Are you a heron?"

"Xas."

"A pleasure to meet you. And what, pray tell, is your name?"

"...Usstan uil Zenith Talinth."

Naruto blinked in confusion. "...Can you speak English, milady?"

"Nau."

"...I'll take that as a no. What is your name again?"

She pointed to herself. "Zenith Talinth."

"A pleasure to meet you, Talinth." He bowed, sweeping his hat to the floor. On his head were a pair of fox ears. He straightened and put his hat back on, covering the ears again. "May I ask why you are waiting on King Naesala? Surely he has better manners than to make you wait."

"Usstan uil kyorlin ulu telanth ulu ukta. Uk uriu tlus ji degahr unnslith."

Naruto took on a blank look. "...Language barriers are a pain in the arse." She giggled at him.

—oo000oo—

"Why didn't you tell me that she was in there," Naesala demanded as he ran down the hall to the thrown room. What sounded like fighting came from inside and Naesala kicked the door open.

"And I looked at the thing as it gathered energy in its mouth. I knew I couldn't reach any of my weapons so I knew I was about to die," Naruto said from his position on the ground while Talinth was sitting close by, listening to his story, fascinated. "But then... I remembered my last weapon, and the oddest I have seen so far. I reached a hand into my coat, grabbed the Medusa, and fired all six shots into the creatures mouth!" His hand had done the same thing he had just described.

"And then, only the leader of the creatures were alive.," Naruto said as he jumped back to his feet. "And Hakari jumped on him, her spear leading! I am going to skip over the details because it makes me nauseous. But the man was killed and... Oh, hello King Naesala. I was just telling the Lady Talinth here about my time at sea."

He looked from him to her. "Xunus uk jivviim dos?"

"Nau. Uk uriu tlus ves valyrin."

"Naubol," he asked again

She shook her head no. "Dalninuk Naesala, vel'klar zhah Konoha? Ph'gaer mzil Fuer'yon gaer?"

"...Talinth wants to know where Konoha is and if there are many from the beast tribe there."

"Konoha is in the West Blue," Naruto told her. "As for the Beast tribe, they are not there. I am Jinchuuriki, that is why I have them."

"Have what," Naesala demanded. Naruto took Fuka-hone from his back, removed his coat and hat, revealing fox ears and tail.

_'I love henge,'_ Naruto said in his mind. "These. I am Jinchuuriki, so is Yugito, the cat."

Naesala looked at him in disbelief. The fur on them moved with the wind. They even twitched and the tail moved. "...Oh. It seems that I have made a mistake."

"So you are not going to kill me?"

Talinth looked shocked. "Ele zhahen dos aluin ulu elgg ukta!?"

"I thought he was a human that had one of my men killed," Naesala tried to explain.

The girl stood up, only a few inches taller than Naruto, and stomped over to him. "Dos ssiggrin? Dos SSIGGRIN!? Dos zhal'la inbal morfel!"

"I am making sure," Naesala said to the fuming girl, backing a few steps from her. "I sent my fastest flier to go see if Zavala is still alive."

"Zavala? Zavala zhahus jivviim?"

"Y-Yes. He went on a..." He swallowed and said the rest in a rush. "A raid, and was captured and shot." Talinth slapped him on the cheek.

"Ele xunus dos fris ussta ulin m'ranndii pholor natha Thalackz'hind!? Dos shaun Usstan phlith nindyn!"

"Talinth, please calm down." He received another smack. "It was his choice!" And another. "He wanted to impress you!" Once again.

"Uk zhaunau uk kat inbal ulu!"

One of the guards came over to Naruto. "Zavala is her future husband," he explained. "She hates raids. And she just said 'he knows he doesn't have to'."

"Thanks, I have been wondering what she was saying."

"He is fine! Naruto has told me so himself!" The bigger, stronger, obviously meaner king hid behind Naruto. "Tell her!"

Naruto let out a gut felt laugh. "Zavala was injured, milady, but he is alive and well thanks to my companions."

"Ussta g'rftte, abbil. Nin qualla mumbaro ji Usstan shlu'ta zotreth usstan dalninuk ulu uoi'nota."

Naruto looked questioningly to the guard and noticed Naesala was sweating heavily. "She said 'My thanks, friend. Now please move so I can hit my brother to hell.' Well, that is the direct translation. I think beat would be the better word there."

"Oh, well, don't mind me." Naruto stepped out of the way.

"G'rftte, Abbil." She gave him a light kiss on the cheek before stalking over to Naesala.

"Talinth, please, don't do anything I will regret."

"Usstan orn," she told him. Meaning she will.

—oo000oo—

A battered and bruised Naesala looked at Naruto. "I must extend my apologies, Abbil. After much consulting with the princess of Herons," beaten into submission, "it has been decided that you should be given a chance to talk about what you want."

"My thanks."

"Talinth would also like to know more about the Jinchuuriki as well as the condition Zavala is in."

"Zavala has no physical wounds. Out of security, his wings have been secured to his body to prevent him from attacking us, last I knew. ...And Jinchuuriki is not a race. We are sacrifices."

Talinth said something to Naesala. "Can you please explain?"

"Nii Yugito and I were normal humans that had one of the nine Bijuu sealed inside our body. I now hold the Nine Tailed Fox, Kyuubi no Yoko. Yugito holds the Two Tailed Cat, Nekomata no Nibi. We also have a friend with our ship that holds the One Tailed Raccoon-dog, Shukaku. Yugito and myself were children when they attacked our homes. We were chosen to hold them inside ourselves to save our homes."

"...And Gaara?"

"...His father wanted a weapon. So Shukaku was sealed in him even before he was born."

"Talinth said that he should be made to pay for that."

"I a..." A giant raven landed on the balcony.

"_**WHERE IS HE!?"**_ Yugito yelled as she jumped off in her Nekomata form.

"Hi, Yugito-chan," Naruto said to her. "Want some tea?"

She gaped at him for a moment, dropping her form. "You idiot! You know how worried I was!?"

"I imagine very worried. Hi, Hinata-chan. I am fine. Worried about me, Sasuke?"

"Nope. Just worried about what Kushina and mother would do to me if I had to tell them that you had been taken and turned into a sex slave or something by these crow." His face was, predictably, in his book now.

"He was so worried about you I was able to take back some of my books," Itachi said, his nose in a book.

"Yo, birdbrain, get out of the way already," Kankuro said, pushing Zavala off ahead of him.

The crow stumbled off and glared at him. "Naruto, you keep some weird friends."

"I noticed," he said as he picked up Fuka-hone and slashed the ropes. "As promised, Talinth, he is fine."

He turned to her, excited. And began to laugh when he saw Naesala. "My king, what has happened to you!?"

"Shut up," he growled. Talinth had stood up from her chair and jumped into his arms.

"I am glad to see you too, love." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. It was a romantic moment until she slapped him. "What was that for!?"

"Whol aluin pholor nidel waele Thalackz'hind! Dos gumash inbal tlus elggen!"

"But how else can we make Tombstone pay for what they did to you!?"

"Actually, I have an idea," Sasuke said, making everyone look at him. "Do you have a treaty or something between the Kiowa and the Government?"

Naesala nodded. "Yes. But it has gone unused in many years."

"Doesn't matter," Sasuke replied, turning a page. "Just so long that it is there."

—oo000oo—

"What have we here," Heero said when he came back to the blacksmith a few days after Naruto left.

"We have a sword unlike anything I have ever made," the blacksmith said as he did the finishing touches. He finished sharpening the blade and looked at the file he had used. "Ruined as well." He tossed it in a pile. "That kid knew his metals. Those new cannons installed well?"

"Fit like a dream. Well, let's see it."

The blacksmith nodded, undid the clamp that held the blade in place, and fitted it on the handle. Tightening the screws in place, he lifted up the sword. It screamed that Naruto designed it. The blade looked like crystal, with blue on the inside.. The cross guard went up at angle along the blade. The whole thing was a foot wide at the hilt. Double bladed, it tapered off into a point though it was obviously a slashing weapon. "He said something about chakra, if that helps you."

"Of course it is for a ninja," Heero said to himself. A sword that big is too heavy for a normal person. "I will take it. I think I already know who it is for." He took it, surprised by the light weight, and headed back to the Morning Song. "Hunter, get up here."

The boy opened the door to the Med lab and walked out on the deck. "Yes?"

"I think this is for you. It's a chakra blade."

Haku took it and watched. The blue on the inside changed as it changed hands. "Clearly," Haku stated. He focused his chakra inside it and the blade became ice like. Raising an eyebrow, he cut off his wind chakra and it took on a semi solid appearance with bubbles floating in it. When he did the same with wind, the blade became only an outline. Zabuza let out a low whistle. "Now that is a zanbatou. He owe you money or something?"

Haku stopped channeling chakra into it. He flipped it over and saw a single kanji. Trinity. "No. Just one orphan helping another."

—oo000oo—

The mayor of tombstone looked over to her. In his eyes, she was the most perfect of specimens. Her lush blue fins on her the side of her head for ears and such a lovely tail. This sub-human was a child still by the standards of the Kiowa but to a human, she had the body most wished they had as their own. But most of all, she as his. Her nature still flared up every no and then but she was his body and, if they had one, soul. His most perfect slave.

"Sarah, come here." She growled as she knew what he wanted already. But is was the only act of defiance left in her. She even stopped protesting that her name was Talon. She no longer had the strength to transform, thanks to something they put in her food.

Humility and shame clear on her face, she walked over to him, clothed only in a gold collar around her throat and the thinnest, see through material for a shirt and skirt. As she bent over the desk and he moved in behind her, she could only think that it was better her than the children. She closed her eyes and...

"Sir! A group of warriors are in town, with word of the defeat of the Crow!"

The mayor pushed her aside. "Has this been confirmed!?"

"Yes, Bison! They... They brought him with them!" There was only one person he could be speaking of. Naesala. "As well as the Princess of the Heron!"

Bison smiled. She was said to be a girl of untold beauty, even for a sub-human. "Looks like I will finally get my little caged bird." He forced Talon back on her feet and pushed her in her cage. "I will be back soon, my sweet gecko." He turned and left, while Talon fell on her cot, grateful and saddened. The other tribes had to be diplomatic. The Crow were inconsequential. With their defeat, there was no one that could save her now.

—oo000oo—

Bison came to outside of town and saw them. On horseback, there were three, the women of the group. A girl with blond hair, a girl with indigo, and Talinth. On the ground was an adult wearing armor, a boy wearing a coat and hat, another wearing a hat, this one looking a little like cat ears, and a last one that looked a little like the adult. Naesala stood next to the boy with the coat. But he wasn't chained.

"You the mayor," Naruto asked.

"I am. You have brought Naesala..."

"Oh, good. I was afraid he might have gotten someone else. We are here as mediators between the Crow and the Government of Tombstone."

"What is the meaning of this," Bison demanded.

"Quiet," Naesala snarled. "I would prefer to kill you myself. But that will never stop the violence against my people."

"Now, as I was saying, I am the Captain of the Morning Song. And the mediator between you two so this fighting can end. Under the Treaty of Visigh, you have no choice but to agree to this parlay."

"That treaty hasn't been used in years," Bison yelled.

"But it is still in effect," Naesala told him. "But, you can break it, of course, publicly. Then the whole of the Kiowa will come down on your village for it's open betrayal."

"This whole thing was a trap," Bison growled out.

"He is learning," Naruto stated. "Now, I have the conditions for peace set forth by the Monarch of the Crow. Mayor of Tombstone, tell me your conditions."

Bison let go of his anger, this might work in his favor for him after all. He walked up and said, quietly to Naruto. "Listen, you are a human like me. How about I pay you a little something for your trouble in helping me?"

"Skip it," Naruto warned him. "I am only hear to make a _fair_ agreement between you two."

"Fine. I want the heron to be mine and all actions against my city to cease."

Naruto nodded and he stepped back. "The conditions are, as they stand, for Mayor Bison: One, the Princess Talinth is made his slave. Two, all hostilities against Tombstone to cease. Naesala, King of the Crow, demands all Kiowa slaves in Texas to be released and the persons responsible for the attack on the Heron ten years ago to be brought to justice."

"Now wait a minute," Bison yelled. "There has been no slaves in Tombstone, much less Texas, since the treaty was signed! And I never said I wanted her as a slave."

Naruto growled at him, making him step back a few feet. "Not only are we the mediators between the two groups, we are the enforcers and executioners! First rule is there will be no hostilities or the person doing them will lose his life! Second, lying will not be tolerated!" By now, word had gotten out that Naesala was here and a crowd had built up to watch.

"You calling me a liar!?"

"You said it, 'I want the Heron mine'! This is in violation of not only the treaty but also the condition set forth by Naesala. As such, I am going to try to reach an arrangement between the two. First, Bison." He walked forward.

"I tell you again, boy there has been no slaves in Tombstone since the treaty!"

"...Hinata-chan. Tell me how many Kiowa are chained and such inside the city."

"I will not allow you to just search through my city!"

"Mayor Bison, I am Hyuuga Hinata, Princess of the Hyuuga clan of Konoha. And I have no intention of search you city house by house. I can see right through it." She had to mentally prepare herself for that. A mediator could not sound weak. "Byakugan. With my eyes, I can see right through wood, metal, even people. And right now, I see nine men and women in bindings of some kind, most of them children."

"You liar!"

She focused on him. "I will prove it. You have a locket under your shirt. Inside is a lock of hair. Pick any person you want here and ask me what possessions they have and I will tell you." He did, and she told him exactly.

"That is enough," Naruto said after the third person. "She has proven the truth. And I have proven that you are a liar. All Kiowa are to be set free, as the condition of the set forth by Naesala."

Bison swallowed, he was in deep trouble. If word got out about this, he would be imprisoned... "Kill them! Leave none alive but the heron."

Naruto sighed. "Why is it always the hard way. Looks like you are about to get your second demand, Naesala." He reached for Fuka-hone and pulled her fro his back. "Requiem of Darkness!" People started to panic as their vision turned black. Only those twenty feet from Naruto escaped it. Of the others, the men pulled their pistols and started firing! "Itachi, Sasuke, disarm them! Yugito, Hinata, take care of the ones that did not get hit by it. Naesala, get Talinth out of here! Kankuro, you are with me!"

The others went into actions while the two ran after the ones that ran away. Bison and a few others were heading back into town. "I am going to even up the odds a little," Kankuro said to him. He summoned Salamander, Crow, and Black ant. They went after three of them. "You handle the other two!"

Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Another Naruto appeared and the split up, the original going after Bison. He could have caught him the moment he ran. But then Naruto would have had to find his slaves himself.

—oo000oo—

Bison ran into his room and to his gun rack. He threw it open and grabbed a shotgun from it. He loaded several shells inside it and turned to the door.

"I guess things didn't go as planned, _master,_" Talon said in a sneer.

"Shut up."

"Does this mean that Naesala was not captured? You look awful scared for a man going to condemn another to death."

"I said shut up!" The door started to open and Bison shot it. A thud of a body hitting the floor met his ears. "...Whew. I guess he wasn't as good as he thought... Now what to do with you? I know. This will be the last time you ever say anything like that to me. Because after I am done with you this time, I am going to cut your tongue out."

Talon backed into the corner as he moved over to her. He still had the gun but she wouldn't dare go for it. She tried to once and that was the worst day of her life. No small horror. "Now be a good little girl and..." The wall shattered as something carved it into several pieces and they were blown in.

"Finish those words," Naruto said to him. "Go ahead, I want a reason to kill you." He stood on the porch cover, looking in. The wind picked up at that moment and his hat blew off and grabbed his coat, pulling at it. His fox ears and tail was revealed.

"You... You're one of those damn sub-humans!" He aimed the shotgun at him and fired. Naruto ducked under it as he spun and cut the gun in half, taking his trigger finger with the barrel. He screamed, a lot like a girl, as his blood fell on the floor. But he had the presence of mind to draw his pistol with his good hand. This time, Naruto didn't wound. His head fell to the floor next to the finger.

Naruto flicked Fuka-hone, ridding her of the blood, replaced her on his back, and turned to Talon. "No need to cry now. He will never hurt you nor anyone else again. Are you okay?"

"I'm not crying," she said fiercely, though she knew she was. It had almost happened again. And...and... Naruto placed his coat around her and she pulled him into a hug, her tears still falling.

"It is alright now. I am sorry for what happened. But I won't let it happen again," he soothed her as, just as quickly as the fighting started, it ended. "Go ahead, let it out."

—oo000oo—

One of the crow warriors that was there as a guard reached of one of the human women. But a fist met his face from Naesala. "Touch them like that and you will die."

"But they did that much and more to us!"

"And we are to sink to human level? No. I will not and neither will you."

Naruto stepped up to him, pushing the second man he chased. "This is the last of them, he was the one that led the men to burn the Heron Forest."

"Please... D-Don't kill me." Naruto pushed him down on his knees and his chest down.

"Shut up," Naesala growled. "How about the Herons? They begged you not to kill them, to stop the fires. But did you?"

"I...I was young! Stupid! Please don't kill me!"

"For all you have done!? Never! Die with some dignity and knowing that through it, there will be peace!" Naesala took his sword and raised it up.

One of the civilians pulled away from the others and the warriors tensed. But it was a child that threw herself over him. "Don't hurt my daddy!"

"Mia, get back," he told her.

"MAI," her mother cried as she tried to reach for her.

"Move child," Naesala told her. He reached down, grabbed her by the collar of her shirt, and pulled her away. "You know how many has died because of him? All for money? He deserves it."

"I-I don't care! He is my only daddy! I won't let you hurt him!"

Naesala glared at the girl and she glared back. "No, Mia, don't! King Naesala, kill me but don't hurt my daughter!"

"Gladly!" He gave her to one of his warriors to hold before facing him again. "Now, as I was saying." He was about to bring his sword down again but he was stopped again. This time a slim, ghost pale hand grabbed his. It was Talinth.

"Xuat, dalniuk. Z'lonzic vlos uriu tlus ori'gato. Z'lonzic plithut."

Naesala looked at her in disbelief. "Enough blood? Enough hate!? Sister, listen to what you are saying! He caused the death of everyone you knew!"

"Jhal ukt streea orn naut vrine'winith ol. Foluss uriu ulu belbau gre'as'anto natha mayar. Dos iglata ulu vharelgg udossa. Dos inbal. Qualla, ori'gato ol vrine'winith nin. Sevir ilta ilharn."

"How can your people be avenged while one of their killers is free? Father or not, he deserves to be punished."

"I think she is saying, where does it end," Naruto said to him. "They killed your people, you hate them. You kill them, they hate you. You have a chance to end the hatred right now. They attacked you when you came to settle the conflict. To make peace and reconciliation. End it now by not ending his life. Prove which is the better men."

Naesala slowly lowered his sword. He flicked his sword though, cutting the skin on his forehead. "Remember this moment, on how it should have gone and didn't." The man raised a hand to the cut that would become a scar.

"Thank you, milady."

"Don't thank her," Naruto told him. "Words are empty. Apologize by actually changing things."

"Naruto-kun," Yugito said, coming up behind him. "All of the slaves has been released and Zavala is seeing to it that they be taken care of. But the one you saved, she will let no one but you near her."

Naruto nodded before turning back to the man on the ground. "The Crow are going to pull back now. My crew and I are going to stay for a bit. Call us guest of the village." He turned back to Naesala. "We will keep watch over...I believe her name is Talon...until her clan comes for her."

He nodded. "Take care of her then. You have my thanks, Naruto. You and your crew. I don't think we could have done this without you."

"I am glad to help. If we come back, maybe some of your people will be interested in joining my crew. _If._"

They shook hands and went their separate ways. Naruto bowed to Talinth one last time before they left. Naruto went to the one room Talon felt comfortable in and took a tray of food with him. "Come on, you have to eat."

"..." She looked at it and pushed it away. "They were poisoning me. To keep me from changing."

"I promise, this food is clean of that. See?" He took a bite of each to show her. "Nothing will happen, isn't that what I told you?" She nodded and slowly began to eat. "There. You will be strong again in no time. I am Uzumaki Naruto."

"Vress'lvel Maelthra. Everyone calls me Talon for short."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: I have gotten leave before I am to report to a new duty station so I have been catching up with family. This has kind of been pushed to the side. The language that Talinth was speaking was drow. A good site to translate English to drow is /chosen/language.php

I hope I made it clear for the most part what she was saying. By the way, Talon's name translates to Talon Dragon. Seems a good time to add a Kiowa to the crew, no?


	23. Chapter 23

Talon looked out her window across the ocean. Bringing her knees up to her chest, she sighed. She knew what was wrong with herself. Years locked in a cell, being raped. She couldn't stand being in a large room, sleeping in a bed...seeing anyone besides Naruto.

She knew she shouldn't be like this. Her tribe was the greatest in Texas, fearing nothing. But she was afraid to even eave this room. Of anyone coming in it. There was a knock at the door, making her tense then relax. Only one person knocked on her door. Or visited her for that matter. "Come in Naruto." She had been shocked when he revealed the fox ears and tail were only an illusion to help him get out of trouble. But then she though how cool it must have been to have that ability.

Naruto opened the door, another tray of food in hand. "Hungry? I hope so. By the way, Naesala sent word, your clan will be here soon to pick you up. I have something to show you." He set the try of sliced melon on her unused bed and went to the window. "There she is."

"What?" Talon looked in the direction he was. A ship was being loaded up to set sail while the name Evening Star was put on the aft castle. "...That your's?"

"The Evening Star? Yes and no. They gave it to me in hopes of getting rid of me and my crew sooner. But that isn't what I meant. There." He opened the window and pointed to a ship coming to port. "My ship, the Morning Song." He had a smile on his face at seeing her again.

"Morning Song, Evening Star? You have a thing for the time of day?"

"Hmm. Well, I am thinking about becoming a Commodore. Actually, the Evening Song was a ship of a friend before it sank. Which is a shame, that Junk was a good ship."

"But you just called it junk."

"Because it was."

"Then how was it a good ship?"

"...Huh? Oh, sorry. A junk is a squarish ship with ribbed sails. Very good. But I inspected that frigate myself. It is almost as fast as the Morning Song, and she is faster than anything else out on the water." He looked back at her. "So, once we get you back home, I leave again."

"You...you're not staying?"

"No. We have what we wanted and we still have to find my uncle." He looked from the ocean back to her and the slight smile he had t finally going back out to sea faded. "What's wrong?"

"I guess I was hoping to see you again. But if you are leaving then I can't."

"I'm sorry," Naruto told her. "...Uh, I have an Eternal Pose so I can come back later."

Talon sat back down in the corner, pulling her knees to her chest again. "You can...but you won't. Why would you? In the Line, there is paradise as well as hell here. Why would you come back just to visit one girl?"

Naruto sighed, he would do anything to get her feeling better but he had no idea how. This wasn't combat fatigue where a person needed to forget the killing, something all ninja are made aware about on how to help with. "Talon, I will be right back. I need to go ask someone a question." He started to walk away but she grabbed his arm with strength that belied her slim form.

"You said you weren't leaving yet!"

Naruto had to grit his teeth from her grip. "I'm not leaving, Talon-chan. I m going to ask someone who knows how I can help you. Can you please let go of my arm? You are going to break it if you hold on any harder." Her grip loosened but she didn't let go. "Okay, I will stay right here. Mind if I ask one of my crew to bring them here?"

She looked uncertain. Naruto wouldn't hurt her but she didn't know his crew. Yet would they hurt her if he trusted them? She stood up and let go of him. Naruto went over to the door with Talon behind him, both to reassure herself that he wasn't going to run and to still feel protected while she looked out the door. "Yugito-chan," Naruto called from the door. "Yugito-chan, I really need some help."

—oo000oo—

Yugito stood up from where she and Hinata was brooding. Naruto couldn't let a woman hurt, it was just one of those things about him that made him the person they cared for. Hell, it was what made Yugito care for him in the first place. But they really wished he would show them some attention as well.

"Come on, I was expecting him to ask for help sooner," she said to Hinata. They climbed up the stairs and saw the door open. Naruto was standing in it with Talon hiding behind him.

"Hi, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, trying to sound cheerful. "What do you need help with?"

"I'm hoping one of you could either tell me how to help Talon or get Anko-chan once she gets here."

Yugito couldn't hide her frown. "Naruto, maybe I can try something." Naruto nodded and stepped back from the door. "Talon, tell me, how old are you?"

"...In human years, I am thirty three."

"WHAT!?" Her outburst made her duck down again. "You look like you are sixteen!"

"Yugito!"

"...Sorry. So how old are you in the years of your people then?"

"...Are you going to yell at me again?"

"No."

"I've only shed my scales thirteen times with each time being a year of development," she told her, the only thing visible of her was her left ear and eye. "Over the next few years, I will start to age like a human until my twenty third skin. Then I will only shed my skin once every ten years for the first two. It will increase after that."

'She won't leave her twenties for over seventy years,' Naruto realized.

"Thirteen? Big year," Yugito told her. "When you should stop acting like a child and start to act like an adult. Talon, you can't lock yourself in this room forever."

"But it isn't safe out there."

"It isn't safe in here. Now I am not going to say get over it. But you can't let it control you life."

"I am not letting it control my life!" Her voice lowered down to a whisper. "I'm just not ready to yet."

"...Naruto, I forbid you to bring her anything else to eat," Yugito said to him.

"Yugito..."

"No and that is final. She just wants to sulk and feel sorry for herself. Not to mention have you waiting on her hand and foot. Comfort her if you want but if she wants to eat, she will have to come get it herself."

A tick mark appeared on Talon's forehead. Hinata touched Yugito's shoulder, "Maybe that is going to far..."

"No it isn't," Yugito told them. "I am sorry this happened to her. But the other children were fine enough to leave. She is saved by Naruto-kun and she has to stay?"

Talon had enough. "Listen, you jealous twit! I am not afraid of any human or any creature! I hate pity! And I hate that I feel this way! But how would you feel if you were put in a cage and raped for two years straight!?" She had pushed Naruto to the side, almost throwing him, and her tail slammed down on the wood, cracking it.

"I would be taking it better than you are," Yugito growled. "At least I don't just find my backbone in moments of anger."

"Ladies, please calm down," Naruto said to them, regretting that he gave Yugito the chance.

They ignored him. "Be glad that is the only time I have found it, kitty cat!"

"You did not just..."

"Kitty cat! Kitty cat! Should I go get a saucer of milk for the poor putty tat? Maybe if you mew sad enough, Naruto-kun will notice you!" Yugito slapped her face only to hurt her hand as scales began to cover it.

"Talon, stop," Naruto said to her, stepping between the two. "That is enough, both of you." He glared at both, making them drop their anger. "Yugito-chan, are you jealous?" She didn't answer, meaning she was. So Naruto kissed her. "Don't be. I am worried about her, yes, but I love you and Hinata. Talon, don't be mad at her. It has been stressful on this island."

Talon's scales receded as she grew sad. "I apologize for antagonizing you, Yugito." She moved back to her position in the corner.

"Hey, come on out," Naruto said, walking over and trying to get her out. But she refused to be. He walked back to them. "Okay, this went wrong. Can you please go get Anko-chan when the Morning Song reaches port?"

Hinata nodded. "I will, Naruto-kun." She gave him a kiss goodbye and headed to the docks.

"Yugito-chan, did you find anything out about this Davy Jones?"

"I did, in fact. It seems the same guy we met back when we first got here is the cause of all our problems. About four months ago, he came here and gave a fruit to one of the women. She ate it and transformed into a wolf. Her body twisted until it was no longer even recognized as once being human. But that was only after five days."

"He is getting better with it," Naruto stated. "So, Davy Jones is making fake the Devil Fruit. Does anyone know where he lives at?" Yugito grinned and pulled out the sea chart she borrowed from him.

"Here at Morose Island," she said tapping the island on the map. It was pass Alabasta on the northern tip of the Grand Line. But, unlike the other islands, there were no lines leading to or from it. It was separated from the rest of the island chain.

Naruto grinned and kissed her. "You are beautiful. Now we just need to figure out how to get to it."

Yugito smiled back at him. "How do you do that? Make it so I don't want to be mad at you?"

"I am unconsciously using Oto Oto Charm?"

"Well, stop it." Yugito walked away, her hips swaying a little. Naruto watched her go before focusing back on Talon.

"Come on, now. They are gone, you can come out," he said, kneeling beside her.

"Go away," she said, using her tail to push him back some.

"Talon, please don't do this. Tell me what is wrong."

"Just go."

Naruto frowned before picking the tray back up. "Nope. I have to make sure you eat. Open you mouth now." She shook her head. "Don't make me hold your nose. Just eat, you will feel better."

"No," she said, putting her hands behind her back.

Naruto sighed. "Stop being so difficult. We already know it isn't poisoned."

"But Yugito said don't bring anymore food."

"Exactly. I had already brought this up. Now eat it or I will right in front of you, making you watch. I already tried a piece of the cantaloupe. It is the most juicy thing you will have ever taste."

When he saw she still wouldn't budge, he picked up a piece of honeydew melon and ate it. "What are you doing!?"

"I thought you didn't want it," Naruto replied. "Hmm, that was sweet. I wonder how the watermelon is?" He picked up a piece of that and put it in his mouth but pretended to chew. When she opened her mouth to protest, he pressed his mouth to hers and forced it in her mouth. She sat there, wide eyed, as he closed her mouth for her. "Chew." Slowly she did, still not believing he just did that. "Swallow." He smiled when she did. "Now, was that honestly worth the effort?"

"...How could you just do that? You just told Yugito and Hinata you loved them and you went and kissed me?"

"Did I kiss you? Or did I make you eat? My lips barely touched yours. Trust me, that wasn't a kiss."

"...And what do you call a kiss?"

"The action of it is to put your lips against someone else's. But there has to be emotion behind it. When I kiss Yugito and Hinata, I can feel they love me and, they can feel I love them. That I would do anything for them. To protect them. That is a kiss to me."

Talon nodded in understanding. Her head jerked to the far wall when a roar filled the air from the plains. "That is someone coming to pick me up."

Naruto looked in the direction it came from before putting his hat back on, flicking his beads with his back hand, and replaced Fuka-hone on his back. "Then let us go greet him and get you home." He put one last piece of melon in his mouth and smiled as he walked out.

—oo000oo—

Naruto looked up at him as he landed. This, he had not expected. In front of him was the largest creature he had ever seen before. It towered over the sparse trees there, fifteen feet tall, over three feet of it neck and the body length in a tail. Fangs as long as his fingers, and wings wider than the sails of the Morning Song. He was looking at a dragon. Not like the serpentine dragons that are used in jutsus, this almost looked humanoid in that it had arms and walked on two legs. This one was white. He focused his eyes on Naruto and Talon. _**"Hello, nestling."**_

"I am not a nestling! I haven't been in a nest for over twenty years!" The dragon threw his head back and broke out in laughter. His voice shook the trees and buildings, scaring the hell out of animals and people alike.

"_**Are you the one that rescued her?"**_

Naruto swallowed. "I am."

"_**You have my thanks, boy."**_ He glowed for a moment before changing into a human looking man in his late thirties. His hair was white and long, reaching his shoulder blades. His clothing, oddly enough, stayed with him when he transformed. It appeared a little like robes. His ears were like Talon's, fin like, he also had a tail. They were white as well. "I am Sargtlin, Lt. of the Dragon Tribe. Come, nestling, let us return home." He held his hand out for her.

Talon gave Naruto one last look before she started walking over to him. "Thats it. Come here now." Talon went wide eyed. Sargtlin was no longer standing there. It was a human with balding black hair that had raped her for three years.

"NO!" She jumped back, grabbing Naruto's arm while hiding behind him, and crying into his coat. "No... You said he wouldn't hurt me again."

"Talon...Talon, listen to me," Naruto said, placing a hand over hers. "He is dead, you saw him die. He can't hurt you unless you let him now."

Sargtlin sighed as he dropped his hand to his side again. "More damage has been done to her than first thought. Has anyone been able to approach her?"

"No one else can while she is alone. Only my crew members when I am with her."

"Male or female?"

"They were women."

"And what is her reaction to men?"

"Pretty much what you just saw. She will break down and cry."

He nodded, "He will be sad to hear this. The Chief was looking forward to finally finding our lost daughter."

Naruto looked at him, searchingly. "...I don't know how to help her. Does someone among your clan know?"

"This has never happened before. One of our numbers has never been captured, only killed, and that rarely happens. Few ever die aside from natural causes."

"...Our country, sadly, these things happens with some frequency. I am hoping that my sensei can help her."

Sargtlin nodded. "I would like to meet her."

—oo000oo—

Anko rubbed her head, trying to ward away the headache she was getting. "You never stay out of trouble, do you?"

"Apparently not, Anko-chan," Naruto said as he slipped Nebi-chan back onto his neck. "Miss me? Heero-san, you ship is being prepped now." He pointed to the frigate. It was black, right down to the sails. "I already had a figure head put on her."

"Damn it, brat, I was supposed to choose that!"

"Just look."

Heero raised a spy glass to his eye and looked at it. "By the Maiden..." What he saw were two dolphins rising from the bow like his old ship. "Boys, the Evening Star has risen from her grave."

"Anyway, it wasn't my fault, I was following orders, not giving them. Itachi was in charge," Naruto said to Anko.

"Hey, don't go pinning this on me," Itachi said as he and Kankuro went aboard. "Besides, you were still the one that they chose to kidnap."

"Details, details. Anyway, I need your help, Anko-sama."

"Uh-oh, must be big. What is it?"

"There is a rape victim in town that needs help. Currently, I am the only boy that can get close to her. I was hoping there might be something you could do for her."

Anko sighed before looking at Sargtlin. "I suppose you have something to do with her?"

"She is a member of my tribe that went missing some years ago."

"...There is no one here that can help?"

"This has never happened to the Dragon Tribe before and I wouldn't trust the people of this village with anything as they are the ones that let it happen in the first place," Naruto informed her while growling at the people from this town.

"Take me to see her. I can promise you nothing. I maybe able to help her or not. And even if I can, things like this takes time. Itachi, I might need your help." The quarter's master fell in step behind her as she followed Naruto and Sargtlin. "You can use those eyes to get a glimpse in her mind, can't you?"

"The ability is limited but I can. Want me to take a look?"

"That might be helpful. And if you would..." Itachi already used henge to turn into a woman. "Good."

—oo000oo—

"Talon," Naruto said as he entered her room, "I want you to meet some friends. This is my teacher, Mitarashi Anko, and the other is...Ahichu Weasel and they are here to see if they can help you. Anko, Weasel, this is Talon."

Itachi's eyebrows rose up to his hair as he took in her looks. This was the first time he had actually seen her. "Well now," Anko said with a grin, "doesn't she look lovely enough to eat."

Naruto dropped his head into his hands. "Please ignore her twisted sense of humor. Weasel, you are the mental analyst, you start."

'She' nodded before picking a chair up and setting it by the bed. "Like Naruto said, I am Weasel. Talon, I would like to talk to you."

Talon lifted her head up from her knees and looked her in the eyes. "Why?"

—oo000oo—

Itachi was already inside. He had used this before and it had proven a big help in getting into ANBU. He couldn't gleam information like numbers or formations from it. But he could learn mental states, hobbies, and other personal information about the person just by the structure of their mind. It was instantaneous though to him it felt as little as a few minutes to hours.

He was on a mountain top, where she felt most comfortable. It was void of animal life, meaning she had lost most trust for all but a few individuals. The few trees that grew there represented her foundations. The roots held it all together, if they broke, she broke. And the trees were scarred. All the minds of children he had seen, they all had one thing in common. They sky was clear and bright, meaning innocence. For her, it was lacking. Though it was clearing up again, there were clouds blocking the sun. He touched one that floated by and the image of a man slapping her before forcing himself on her appeared. The memories of the evil done to her.

Stepping away from it so as to not touch another, lest he force her to remember more, he continued looking around. Finally, he found what he had been looking for, though he knew not what form it would take. A nest with broken egg shells scattered around it. In the center, shook a baby dragon. It was crying for someone to help it before the image of the man from the memory started coming for her again. Itachi knelt down beside her and said, "It is alright," blocking the image. "It is alright little one." He could not do much to help in here but in time, he could help her vastly now that he knew all this.

—oo000oo—

"I would like to be your friend," Itachi replied. "To help you."

Talon blinked and shook her head for a moment. She locked her gaze on his again and searched his eyes. "...And if I don't want friends?"

Itachi smiled, that distrust was clear right here. "Ah, but I know you do, if just a little. After all, why cling to Naruto if you didn't?"

"I don't cling," she growled.

"Maybe you don't then, child."

"And I'm not a child, I'm older than you."

"And I would call someone in their fifties child if that is how mature they are. Now, how about you get a little comfortable so we can talk."

Talon kept her gaze on hers. She knew those eyes from somewhere. "...Okay." She got up and laid down on the bed. "Well, doctor, what do you want to know?"

"How about whatever you would like to talk about."

"...I don't feel comfortable with so many in this room," she admitted. "I would like for Anko to leave."

"Why not Naruto?"

"Because Naruto will protect me."

"Do you feel that I am going to hurt you?"

"...Truthfully?"

"I would have it no other way, no matter if my feelings are hurt or not."

"I do. He... He kept me in a cage, never letting me out. Only able to watch the sky from a window. And he..." She didn't finish but she didn't need to as her actions spoke for her. She had curled into a ball with her tail wrapping around her her lower stomach and back protectively.

"And you are afraid that it will happen again," Itachi said to her.

"It wasn't just him. He brought others...and watched as they did it to me... I want those memories to go away. I'm tired of being afraid that the door is going to open and it will be him." She was so close to crying that Itachi decided to stop.

"Hmm. This has been a good conversation, Talon. Anko and myself are going now. Though Anko will be in later." Itachi stood up and left, leaving just Naruto in there with her.

Outside, Sargtlin looked at them, waiting for an answer. "How bad is she?"

"Very," Itachi said to him. "She reacted to you not just because the man that held her prisoner. She was raped by others as well."

"...Will she ever be herself again?"

"The damage is deep. She knows he is dead but her subconscious will not let him die. This 'man' has become an undying demon to her."

Anko looked back into the room. "There are things that can be done but they are dangerous."

"Like what," Sargtlin asked her.

"There are jutsus where we are from that affect the mind. Itachi here can enter her mind and possible effect it."

Itachi nodded, "I entered and gave her subconscious a message that I was there to help her. She should trust those with a Sharigan now, at least a little."

Sargtlin understood what she meant now. "You mean to enter her mind and change it..."

Anko swallowed but nodded. "But this is a last resort. If necessary we could seal the memories away or Itachi could try a few things while in there. But neither of us know the mind well enough to even a temp such a thing. We could destroy her mind by accident just as easily as actually helping her."

"...Then it will take time and sessions with her to return her to normal," Sargtlin stated. "Could you take her with you while you travel?"

"Huh?"

"You two are the ones that can help her, right? If you leave, she should be with you. Talon can get back easily enough just by following the stars and the direction of the sun. So I am not worried about that. And Naruto has already proven to me he will protect her."

Anko shook her head. "We are ninja, fighters. We are going after a person that could end her life."

"Then she will be no worst off. Her life has already ended if you can't tell. This will save her, I can feel it. Please."

Anko sighed as she ran her hand threw her hair. "It will be up to Naruto."

"Naruto?"

"It is his boat. I am only in command while on land."

Sargtlin turned to the door and was going to open it but it did before he reached it. "Are you sure, I could go get you something..." they heard Naruto say.

"I am sure. If I don't, I will be a scared little hatchling for the rest of my life." Talon walked out ahead of Naruto. She saw Sargtlin and wanted to head back inside. But she grabbed Naruto's arm for support and gave it a squeeze before heading into the kitchen for something to eat. As they walked by, Itachi could hear Naruto give a slight groan and mutter, "Strong grip."

"I will tell him," Anko said to them before following. "Naruto, Talon, I have something to ask you."

"What is it, Anko-chan," Naruto asked.

"Sargtlin said that if it will help her, we should take Talon with us."

"But...But my home is here."

"I know, which is why I asked both of you. Talon, if you come with us, you might never return. But you will get better."

"...Are you sure?"

"I know so. The sea has peculiar effects on people."

"If she wants to come, I won't mind," Naruto told them.

"...Alright, I will."

—oo000oo—

Naruto led Talon onto the ship. "Home sweet home," he to her. "Looking good, Hakari."

"Did you expect me to return her in pieces," she asked. "Heero and his crew have already gone over to their ship. We are once again a small crew. Commodore."

"...I was just joking when I said that this morning."

Hakari shrugged, not knowing what he was talking about. "Heero has no way to head back home. So he will travel with us." She tossed him the telescope and pointed to the colors of the Evening Song. Naruto looked at it and almost laughed. It was the Konoha Jolly Rogers. "So, for now, he sails with us, at your command. And who is this?"

"Hakari, this is Talon. Talon, this is my first mate, Hakari." Hakari nodded to her. "She needs some help that only Anko and Itachi can give her."

"Who," Talon asked.

"...Uh, Weasel's brother. She cannot come along but he was already part of the crew."

"...Oh." She didn't like the idea but she had little choice.

"All hands aboard," Naruto asked Hakari.

"Present and accounted for. Supplies are at full. We need only the order to sail."

"Good. All hand to the deck!" Gaara dropped down from the crow's nest. Haku and Temari from the Med Lab. Kankuro from the temporary armory, smelling of CLP, weapon cleaner, lubricant, and preservative. Zabuza and Kisame from the bow, their swords still in hand from a spar. Sasuke from under the tree, book in hand. And Baki, Yugito, and Hinata from the sleeping quarters. "Everyone, this is the new crew member, Talon. She will need some space so make sure to give her that. No going near her unless she asked. Now... Hoist the anchor and drop the sails! We have a destination and the coordinates for the next island in this blasted chain! MOVE!" He turned to Hakari while the others scrambled to do as he ordered. "Can I trust you to show her the ropes?"

"If it kills her," Hakari told him. "You are coming with me." She lead her to her first job while Naruto headed to the wheel.

He stopped after the first step. Gaara was still there, looking at Talon. "Problem?"

"...None what so ever. I was curious." He turned back to the crow's nest and shushined up to it. There was a flash of sand up there, telling the Evening Star to prep to sail and fall in behind the Song. Naruto went to the wheel, and grabbed one of the fruits there. He took a bite out of the mango before he started humming this tune from a pirate movie he once watched.

"Davy Jones, you have a lot to answer for."

—oo000oo—

His silver hair and sword shining in the afternoon light, he grinned down at the creature before him. "Isonade... You will be the final piece to perfecting my tree. I will make you mine." As though the creature knew he was watching it, it turned its head to the air and began to look around. "Now is not the time to meet though. But once I am ready for you, your soul is mine."

The view faded and when it cleared again, he was off the little stone he had bee standing on and back in his base. He looked out the window to the chamber in the center. His life work was there. Embedded in the bark of a tree that stood over fifty feet high were more than twenty men and woman, their blood feeding it. Some had given up long ago. Other, like the girl with red hair, still fought to get free. Devil Fruit users and ninja all. They were so close to making his tree far more than the original was that it made him laugh. He was a stone toss away from it.

Darkness circled his hand. "Soon, so very very soon, nothing will stop me. Isonade, I just wait for you." He had been told about the nine bijuu from a man he had tortured from the Land of Lightning. Eight of the nine were hidden within human host now. But Isonade was still seen. When he had described the demon to Jones, he had been so happy, he ended his life. A demon with more chakra than he could imagine, that was what he needed.

—oo000oo—

Not far from him, in a cove, Suigetsu waited while his body regenerated. Eating fish that thought he was plankton or such, he knew it would take some time before he had enough living cells to reform his body. He knew this when he left most behind to follow him. But he would not just leave Tayuya. He gave his word that he wouldn't. Suigetsu admitted to being a bastard and many other things. But he was no liar.

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. I based Itachi's ability to look in her mind on when Sasuke looked into Naruto and saw the Kyuubi. If this is accurate or not, I don't know. Now, Commodore has two different meanings now a days. Originally, it was the name for what equals in the US Navy now as Fleet Admiral Lower Half or a single star Admiral. It is also used when referring to a Captain that is in command of multiple ships but is not an admiral. Commodore Uzumaki... This is starting to seem like a like that Naruto is going to have trouble leaving. Well, more than he already had.

Davy Jones now wants Isonade no Sanbi for his collection! Who saw that one coming!? Me. Only a few more stops and then, it will be over. I will reveal soon why he is doing this. If you want, you can tell me what you think it is. If you are right, I will mention you in my next chapter as well as either tell you what I have planned for Talon OR name my next OC a name of your choosing, so long as it isn't offensive. I don't mean politically correct, I mean curse words and such.

See ya Space Cowboy


	24. Chapter 24

"...That wind isn't coming back anytime soon," Naruto stated. He looked to starboard and behind at the Evening Star. "And we can't leave her behind. Temari, Yugito, either of you willing to volunteer to go over there?" When they hesitated, Naruto shook his head, "I thought not. Alright... Temari, I need you to go over there."

"Why me," she asked, mad to be away from Haku.

"Because you are the better wind user. And take a look at the Star over the Song, which is heavier in the water?" Temari dropped her head. He was right. The Morning Song was built for speed and with the three mast it has, could go faster than any normal ship. But the Evening Star while it was fast, especially for its size, it also carried more guns. Meaning it took more wind to move it. And while they could keep up with the Song, if Yugito was over there driving the wind while she did over here, they would quickly be left behind.

"Aye, aye, Captain." She went below deck a moment, came back up, and jumped over the side of the deck. She ran over to the evening Star while Hunter came up top, who, surprisingly, was dressed like Zabuza a little, just a mask instead of bandages.

"...Ass."

"Missing her already? Don't worry, this is just until we get to a spot with some wind." He took off his hat and wiped his brow. "If my skin darkens anymore or my hair turns anymore bleached, I'm going to look like the maiden." Haku agreed, while most just seemed to tan and hair lighten a little, Naruto was, by far, the most changed. With his hair naturally so bright, it began to turn white not long after coming to sea. "Now, let's get going." He took a lantern that was made to open and close the shutter quickly. _"We sail when Temari arrives,"_ he told Heero with Morse Code.

"_We will be ready,"_ Heero replied. A few minutes later, the Morning Star lurched forward, her sails straining against the wind.

"Yugito-chan, take us forward!" Making sure the heading was correct, Naruto watched her for a bit. "Yugito, what is Cloud like?"

"...Strict. For me anyway. Bii Kira, another Jinchuuriki has it good because he is stronger and is the brother of the Raikage." She shook her head. "My mother was the one that sealed Nekomata inside of me to stop it from destroying anymore villages in Lighting. All she wanted was for me to be looked after. And I was...in general. But Killer Bee..." She swung a fist, hitting the cabin wall. "He never let it go, holding it over my head that he was better! Even his demon was better!" She took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun, it must sound like I am jealous."

"Only a little. Sounds like bad memories."

"...At times it wasn't. It was pleasant during those times. Some people saw me as a hero for keeping Nekomata sealed away. But...others wanted a weapon. This one, who got the idea from this one armed man, tried to remove any emotion I had. I couldn't take that. But the Raikage, while he made sure I was alright, wouldn't have done something about it."

"...His own brother was a jinchuuriki but he wouldn't help you, another jinchuuriki?"

"I am supposed to be the second strongest in my village. There is nothing I am not supposed to be able to handle." She sighed. "Naruto, I would really like to leave a dead past just that."

"Alright, Yugito-chan. As they say, the past is the past. How about this, how do you like being out at sea?"

She smiled. "I love it. It is very calming, the smell and feel of the water. I could live a life like this forever." She noticed Naruto frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Just I feel the same way. But we can't. Eventually, we have to head back. I don't know how I am going to sleep at night without the ship. And what will become of everyone?" He looked over and saw Hakari talking with Talon. She was showing the girl the proper way to secure a line right now. "Hakari, when was the last time she ate?"

"Breakfast," she replied.

"Hungry, Talon?"

"No..." Her stomach cut her off with a growl that echoed through the ship. "Yes."

Zabuza and Kisame came up on deck, swords at the ready. "Another sea monster," Zabuza demanded.

"Good, I was looking forward to some meat," Kisame growled. When he noticed Talon was hiding behind Hakari and the others had sweat dropped, he asked, "What?"

"That was Talon," Naruto stated.

"Damn," he said, returned Samehada to his back. "Can't eat her." He turned around and was about to go back down. "Hey, super brat, what is that?"

Naruto looked to port and thought he saw smoke. Raising his telescope, he saw it was a ship. Not only that, it was moving. "How the hell? Good eyes, Kisame. Its a moving ship."

"Why is that any different?" Kisame felt it then. There was no wind to push the sails. "I see."

"We'll keep an eye on it. Talon, Hakari, take a break. It is time for lunch." Feeling hungry himself, he looked up at the tree, trying to decide which fruit to have this time. Squeezing a star fruit to test to make sure it was ripe, he picked it and took a bite out of it.

After a meal, Naruto looked to the side at the other ship. It had gotten up on them fast. Raising his scope again to look, he nearly dropped it. "SHIT!"

"What," everyone asked.

"A bloody dreadnought!" At their confused looks, he said, "A battle ship! Fifty guns on each side, ten rear guns, and six forward! And it gets worst! Not only is that thing a steam powered ship so it can move whenever they want at great speed so long they have a fire, they are pirates! All hands, prepare for battle!" Sending the mess to the Evening Star, he heard the shouts for men to start moving. "Haku, create the armor over the ships!" The ice covered them, save the gun portals. When no other preparations were left, they only waited for the ship to come into range. Naruto nearly laughed when he saw the colors. It was the face of a panda over cross swords.

There was a flashing light from the ship. _"Morning Song, Evening Star, this is the Truth and Reconciliation. Request to know destination."_

Naruto blinked a few times. He was surprised. _"Truth and Reconciliation, we are bound for Alabaster at current heading."_

"_What is final destination?"_

Naruto hesitated. This 'Davy Jones' has already proven to have great resources. So he decided to lie. _"We make for the home of the King of the Pirates."_

They seemed to be satisfied with that as they withdrew their guns. _"We are also heading to Alabaster. Shall we go together?"_

Naruto didn't like this, pirates are normally on friendly terms with each other but this was a bit much. "They wish to travel with us to Alabaster," Naruto stated. "What do you guys think?"

"...Don't," Zabuza said.

"Unless we are allowed to flank them, this spells trouble," Kisame said.

"I agree," Anko said.

Naruto nodded to them and replied, _"Truth and Reconciliation, we must turn down your offer. We know not your history or who you are."_

"_Understood, Morning Song. When you reach Alabaster, don't stir the waters too much," _they warned. The ship began to pull away from them, heading for Alabaster.

"...And the odds that we will see them again," Naruto asked the air.

"High to assured," Baki said, before sighing. "I'm too old for this shit." Naruto turned his attention back onto the ship and the weather. It was tropic right now but was beginning to fall. Once it became arid and hot, he knew they would be there.

—oo000oo—

"Pink horror!"

"Cyclops!"

"Mangy Mutt!"

"Talentless jonin!"

"Walking ant colony!"

"..."

The people on the street sighed. After seven months, normal people hash out their hatred. But not Team Seven. They had a love hate relationship. They just love to hate each other. And while they were the best working genin team out there, which amazed everyone, they couldn't go a day without insulting one another.

Sarutobi laughed and leaned back in his chair. He was glad he didn't have to but up with any of that anymore. Let Tsunade have it! Although... He sighed. He had been in his retirement for a month now and he was getting ready to go out of his mind. There was just nothing for him to do. He got off the chair from his backyard and went back inside. He put a CD in the player and looked at his book case. Naruto knew he loved to read so whenever he had gotten him a gift, it was a book. Just they were all on sailing and sea stories.

He grabbed one and sat down. "History of Pirates... I remember this one now. He gave it too me a few years ago. Might as well." He opened it to the first chapter and it started off with how it began. Followed by privateers, pirates that worked for a government. Then to the ships they used. Finally, it gave biographies of notable pirates.

_'White Beard, one of the Yonkou, was until recently, thought to be the person closest to become the next King of the Pirates. He is a man with few limits in his strength and only one rival. He views his crew like family and destroys anyone that would hurt them._

_Portgas D. Ace. The second Division commander of the White Beard Pirates. He controls fire because of what is known as the Devil Fruit. His is the grandson of Vice Admiral Monkey D. Gwarp._

_'Red Haired' Shanks. This pirate, though not as dangerous as he once was thanks to the lost of his arm, is one of the Pirate Lords called the Yonkou of the second half of the Grand Line. He is a former crew of the last King, Gold Roger. He is strong enough that an alliance with White Beard (Listed above) is enough to cause the Government to go into a panic. It is said that he gave the Straw hat to Monkey D. Luffy, Captain of the Straw Hat Pirates and current King of the Pirates. His first ship was a schooner called the Going Merry. His current ship is the Thousand Sunny. And though most, at first, believe the figure head is the sun, it is actually a lion.'_

"...That name sounds familiar... Now where did I hear it before?" In trying to remember, he looked around the room and his eyes fell on the picture Naruto had taken with him, his friends, Jiriaya, and the crew that was taking them across the ocean. The ship behind them had the figure head of the sun... He got up and looked closely at it and began to laugh. That 'sun' was actually a lion and the flag of the ship was a skull wearing a straw hat. The person he assumed was the captain because of the same hat he wore as the flag, had a scar under his left eye and this big grin on his face. It was the same person as the picture next to 'Monkey D. Luffy'.

—oo000oo—

Hinata smiled and looked down from the crow's nest. "Land ho!"

Naruto ran up the mast and looked through his telescope. "...As dry as Suna. We have reached Alabasta!" He jumped back down and took out the chart. "There is to the north of us. We will set there and head in land."

"Why," Kankuro asked.

"Because my uncle is on that island," Naruto told him with a huge smile on his face. As they pulled into port, they saw the Thousand Sunny, anchored and guarded. They also saw marines coming to 'greet' them. "Weigh anchor, hoist the sails, prepare to go ashore." He jumped over the railing and walked onto the docks. "Good morning, gentlemen, to what does my crew and I owe the pleasure of your company?"

One of them smoking two cigars and a giant jutte on his back walked up to him. "You are pirates and I am here to arrest you."

"Me, a pirate?" He began to laugh. "We are not pirates, _Captain Smoker_. If we were, I would snap my fingers and those guns on the ships to our left and right would lay waste to this dock, your men, and you. But, as I am not, I will only say you are mistaken."

Smoker growled at him but Naruto wasn't finished. "So, what brings you back to Alabasta? Making sure that nothing else happens to the country after what Crocodile did? Not that you could do much if he was to return. You couldn't before." He smiled. "That's right, I know what really happened, that it was Monkey D. Luffy that defeated him and to keep face, the government acknowledge you were the one to do it. That is, save Alabasta of course." He turned back to the Morning Song. "Anko-sensei! Once the ship is moored, bring everyone ashore!"

"Why are you here," Smoker demanded.

"Why? I am just passing through. You see, a 'friend' of ours is on this island and I need to meet back up with him."

"We don't have a mutual friend," Smoker replied.

"Ah, I guess you are still mad at him for always getting away. Of course, that must be why you are here, at this dock, waiting close to his ship. Luffy."

Smoker pulled the jutte from his back and pointed it at Naruto. "You are a pirate!"

With his smile still in place, he grabbed the end of the weapon, feeling the sea stone take away his powers. He held up his hand and chakra began to gather in it. It swirled around until it became a sphere. "I could kill you right now if I wanted. But I won't because..." He let go of both the Rasengan and the weapon. "I'm not a pirate. I'm a soldier from the West Blue. Now, get out of my way."

The boarding plank was set down while the Evening Star pulled close to the dock. "Who is this," Anko said, walking up to them.

"He is a captain in the Navy, name is Smoker," Naruto told her. "Heero! We are heading in land to meet a few people! You and your men stay here and watch the ships!"

"Sure thing! You heard him, all hand save duty guards are given shore leave!" The men cheered and they ran off, climbed down, jumped over the side, anything to get off that ship to a place with more pleasant company.

Naruto walked over to the Thousand Sunny. "So, I take it you are royal guards?"

"We are," the platoon leader told him. "The captain of this ship is guest of the king himself."

"WHAT," Smoker shouted. "How could that second rate pirate be welcome here!?"

They stiffened at that. "He is a hero of our country. And any that would disrespect him are not welcome here." They looked from him to Naruto.

"Hey, I just got here and was met by him. I know him by reputation only. I am actually here to meet my uncle."

"You are related to Straw Hat," Smoker demanded.

"Now when did I ever say I was related to the King of the Pirates? I said I am here to meet my uncle. The Sannin Jiriaya," he said that last to the soldier.

He widened his eyes at that. "Are you Uzumaki Naruto of Konoha?" He nodded, causing the man to smile. "I am under orders to provide an escort to the capital for you and your crew, sir." He nodded to the man on his right who stepped forward.

"Your crew is larger than I was told but it matters not. I am Ashnard, please follow me." He walked to the stables and had the boy in there to ready enough camels for all of them.

"Talon," Naruto said, holding out his hand "who do you want to want to ride with?"

"Uhm..."

Gaara cleared his throat while dropping his gourd and letting it vanish, he didn't need to keep it here. "If she would like to, I will let her ride with me."

"I...I wouldn't mind that," Talon said.

Temari looked out over the sands. "I had hoped that I would never see this again."

"I missed the sand," Baki said. "The waters are nice but the sands are home." Naruto arched an eyebrow as a thought hit him but he dismissed it. He couldn't do that...could he?

"I kind of missed it as well," Kankuro stated.

Hakari groaned. "I am going to dry up out there."

Kisame smiled a toothy grin. "You learn to pack canteens." He gave her one of his many. "Now, shall we get going?"

Itachi climbed up the first camel. "I agree, let's go."

Sasuke tried to follow his lead but the camel spit in his face. "I'll kill it!" He was being held back by Naruto from fulfilling his threat. "Let me go!" He struggled all the harder when the camel started to laugh.

"I'll ride the blasted thing," Naruto told him. He pushed Sasuke towards the camel that he was going to ride and turned to the spitter. "Are we going to have a problem?" His replied was the camel clearing his throat about to lob another. He stopped when he felt the bladed edge of Fuka-hone against the under side of his chin. "Is that a yes?" The camel, showing he had surprising intelligence, decided to swallow it. "Good boy." He climbed a top the animal and looked to Ashnard. "We were going, correct?"

"We were." Getting on his mount, he started across the sands.

"Have you ever heard of pirates with a panda as their banner," Yugito asked.

"You met them, eh? They have been causing problems her for some time now. Won't leave us alone, won't go anywhere else. We have tried hunting them down but that ship of theirs makes that impossible. They can go faster than anything we have ever seen, double around our ships, and sink them before we are able to get off a shot."

"And the Navy," Hinata asked.

"Why not ask Smoker," Naruto said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder. He was getting the Fog Hog ready to ride.

"Okay," Hinata said. "Hey, why is it the Navy is bothering mercenaries instead of bringing down pirates?"

"Shut up," he growled. "You are going to see Straw Hat, I am going with you."

"You are not welcome," Ashnard stated. "You or your men."

"I don't give a damn. Not like any of you can stop me." All of the ninja looked at him along with Hakari and Talon. "You think you can?"

Anko grinned evilly and stepped down. "Tell you what, you think you can survive five minutes with my friendsss and you can come."

"Bring them on."

"Summoning no jutsu!" Smoke appeared and covered the area. When it cleared, Anko was standing on a giant king cobra. She reached down and scratched his head. "Who's a big boy," she asked, sounding like she was talking to a dog. It got wost when the snake wagged his tail and tried to lick her. "See him? See him? He wants to play with you!" The cobra turned to him and Smoker dropped his jaw and cigars. He jumped on the Fog Hog and hauled ass out of there, the cobra hot on his trail.

"SIR," his men cried out, watching him get chased into the dessert. They then turned to the group and saw Anko was leering at them. That was all they needed to motivate them into running.

Naruto waited another moment before he, Kankuro, and Sasuke broke out in laughter. "Here, Spot, here Spot," he said followed by a whistle.

As they started out, Naruto thought he saw something in the distance. But he didn't see it again. "I need to know who the new arrivals are, Uzumaki Naruto."

"Oh, of course. The one with black hair and red eyes is Itachi. The fishman with the sword is Kisame. Those are the Sabaku siblings, Temari, Kankuro, and Gaara. Their sensei, Baki. And with Gaara is Talon."

"Yes, Jiriaya mentioned that the two might be with you. And that the there were those with an hourglass on their headbands following. But who is the girl?"

"Like I said, her name is Talon. She is a member of the Dragon tribe from the island of Texas."

He looked at him then back at her. "...Really? I have heard stories but I never imagined that I would meet one. Is it true... Can she change into a dragon of legend?"

"I haven't seen her do it but yes her people can. I have seen another do it."

"Amazing. How big were they? Did you see them fight? What about the breath weapon?"

"Easy, easy. Huge, towered above me. No I didn't see him fight. Nor did I see his breath weapon." Ashnard looked back at Talon and she began to shy away from it, trying to shrink back into Gaara. While Naruto's head was turned, he felt something web land on his coat collar. He snapped his head forward with a glare but found his camel had his face forward. "That one was free," he warned it. "I will take the next out of your hide."

—oo000oo—

It was later that Naruto saw that thing in the distance return. And it was heading straight for them. "Look out!" Several bandits riding horses came charging in. They were moving fast, trying to keep from being hit by their weapons. One threw a spear at Gaara and rode passed him and was gone. The spear was blocked by the sand.

Two rode around Naruto, a net between them. His camel was chased into the dessert while Naruto struggled to get free. Behind him, the raiders were pulling back. "Damn it not again!" His camel looked at him and he could have sworn he saw the thing smirk. Before it spit once in his face. "THAT'S IT!" He tore the net apart and slugged the camel in the face. It stumbled and fell. Naruto, deciding to defeat one enemy with another, picked the camel up and threw it at the pair. They went down in a heap and Naruto was already on them. "Oto Oto Illusion!" Moments later, they started screaming.

His friends came over and Naruto looked at them. "...Ashnard? Gaara, Talon!? Where are they!?"

—oo000oo—

Talon was dropped and was among a group of men and women with weapons. "Mister Ashnard...why are we here?" She was shaking whenever one got near her.

"We are not here to hurt you," Ashnard told her. He threw off his helmet and put on a hat similar to Naruto's. "You see, we are the Panda Pirates. And, after finding out that you are of the Legendary Dragon tribe, even if you are only a child, I realized that we had to get you to join us."

"I...I can't. I need to head back. Naruto, he is supposed to be with me. To protect me!" She was growing more nervous.

"Talon, breath, relax. You will not be harmed." He said it in a soothing voice, much like Naruto did whenever he spoke to her. It took several minutes but finally her breathing returned to normal. "Why must you be near Naruto when you can protect yourself?"

"...Because others keep hurting me. He didn't, he saved me from them. And he said he would protect me from anyone else that would want to hurt me."

"Well, you don't have to worry, you won't be hurt while you are with us. So what say you? Interested in joining our group?"

"You kidnapped me just to ask!? Why should I trust you when you go through that!?"

He shook his head and motioned to his men. Some got out instruments while others laughed that he would do this now. _"When I just a lad looking for my true vocation. My father said, 'my son, this choice deserves deliberation. Though you could be a doctor, or perhaps a financier, my boy why not consider a more challenging career!"_

His men started singing as well now. "Hey ho ho, you'll cruise to foreign shores. And you'll keep your mind and body sound by working out of doors. True friendship and adventure are what we can't live without. And when you're a professional pirate, that's what the job's about."

Ashnard spoke up again. _ "Upstage lads, this is my _only_ number." _Two men hoisted him up on their shoulders. _"Now take Sir Francis Drake, the Spanish all despise him. But to the British, he's a hero, and they idolize him. It's how you look at buccaneers that makes them bad or good. And I see us as members of a noble brotherhood."_

"Hey ho ho, we're honorable men. And before we lose our tempers we will always count to ten."

"_On occasion there maybe someone you have to execute."_

"But when your a professional pirate, you don't have to wear a suit."

One of them stepped forward a little. "I could have been a surgeon, I like taking things apart!"

"I could have been a lawyer, but I just had too much heart."

"I could have been in politics, because I've always been a big spender."

"And me, I could have been a contender."

"_Some say that pirates steal, and should be feared and hated. I say we are victims of bad press. It's all exaggerated. We'd never stab you in the back, we'd never lie or cheat. We're just about the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet."_

"Hey ho ho, it's one for all for one. And we'll share and share alike with you and love you like a son. We're gentlemen of fortune and that's what we're proud to be. And when your a professional pirate..."

"_You'll be honest, brave, and free, the soul of decency. You'll be loyal and fair and on the square and most importantly..."_

"When you're a professional pirate, you're always in the best of company!" Ashnard jumped down and smiled at her.

It fell when he saw she was rolling on the ground, laughing. "If you aren't the most ridiculous group I have ever seen! You should go into show business!" She sat back up, took one more look at them before she broke up back into laughter.

"Talon, we are serious," Ashnard told her. "Once our captain would have heard about you, he would have ordered us to take you and force you to join. So, please, accept the offer while it is still an offer."

She was about to answer when a cold voice came from behind them. "If you were smart, you would write off Talon-chan as a lost cause and convince your captain not to pursue her." Gaara walked up to them. "If she doesn't want to go, that is. I will not force her to stay with us."

"Thank you, Gaara-san. I want to stay with you and Naruto."

"She comes with me," Gaara stated firmly.

"Leave boy, before you regret this." Gaara just started walking forward at a calm pace. He walked by the first pirate and she swung her sword at him. The sand came alive and blocked her. It wrapped around her arm and threw her away from him. Ashnard first thought that somehow, Crocodile had escaped. But he realized that this boy probably had his abilities before he came here. "Kill him! Don't hold back!"

They rushed Gaara while he continued to walk over to Talon. They brought their weapons down on him and they were all blocked like before. When he got to Talon he said, "Are you ready to head back?"

"Yes I am, Gaara-san. Thank you for coming for me."

"It was my pleasure." Someone raised a gun and pointed it at his head. The sand caught it and twisted into a spike until it was an inch from Gaara's head. "...I need stronger sand." Rocks all around them began to break apart and changed into sand. He wrapped it all around them and said, "Talon-chan, close your eyes and don't breath through your nose." When she did, Gaara placed her on a horse, got on himself, and led her away from their before their was a sudden sound of a mass amount of liquid hitting the sand.

—oo000oo—

Naruto lowered his telescope and smiled. "Ashnard is accounted for. Sadly, he is dead. As for Gaara and Talon, they are fine and coming this way. We will need a new guide though."

"Done," Baki stated. He cut his thumb and moved the blood to his hands. "Summoning no Jutsu." A hawk appeared and looked to Baki, awaiting orders. "We need to find a city in that direction."

"It will be done," the hawk said before flying off. By nightfall, they were walking up the steps to the castle.

"Hello, I need to speak with Jiriaya of Konoha," Naruto told them. They saw his headband and smiled.

"Of course. Right this way, sir." One of the guards pulled him to the side for a moment. "He might be...occupied at the moment."

"You mean his is still flirting with every woman he sees," Naruto asked with a sigh. "Thank you." He headed in. "I could be lying on the ocean floor, being eaten and he is trying to get laid...without me!" He honestly didn't want to help his uncle, it was just a running joke.

"Well, maybe we can change that," Yugito whispered in his ear, making him shiver in pleasure.

"...Hold that thought ladies," Naruto told them, his face deep red.

Anko smiled and elbowed Baki. "Now, I am going to have so much fun teasing him with this." He nodded in agreement.

Naruto stopped when he saw Sanji, he was trying to sweet talk a pretty young thing. "Amateur," Naruto muttered. He looked to Hinata, "Mind helping me show him how it is done?"

She smiled and nodded. She walked down the hallway a little. Sasuke turned to those gathered and said, "You are about to get a lesson from the student of Jiriaya on charm, watch closely, he gives them only so often."

Hinata was leaning against the wall, smiling at the failing attempts of Sanji. When Naruto 'accidentally' bumped into her. "I am dreadfully sorry," Naruto told her. "I did not mean to do that."

"It's alright," Hinata told him.

"No it is not," Naruto said, shaking his head. "It is inexcusable, loosing myself like that."

"Honestly, it is alright."

"You are as kind as you are beautiful. Please, may I get you name?"

"I am Hinata," she said, no longer able to keep her smile from her face.

"Ah, 'a rose by any other name will smell just as sweet'. I apologize again, lady Hinata, for my rude behavior."

"I thank you for your compliment, kind sir. And may I get the name of such an eloquent man such as yourself?"

"Again, where are my manners? I am Naruto," he said with a bow and flourish. He came back up with a rose in his hand. "Terrible, I was wrong. A rose is nothing compared to your beauty."

Even though Hinata was expecting this, she still blushed. "Y-You sh-shouldn't say s-such things...I'm not th-that pretty."

"Not to contradict you but when did I say pretty?" He finished it but holding out his hand, to which she put hers in, and kissed it. That was it, Hinata fainted.

The woman looked over at Sanji. "You could learn a few things from him," she said before walking away.

Naruto turned to Sanji and smiled. "And the lesson is over class."

Sanji widened his eyes and pointed at Naruto. "YOU! When did you get here!?"

"Just now," Naruto replied. A heartbeat later, he recoiled back as Sanji was on his knees, bowing to Naruto.

"Sensei, the wise Jiriaya has told me you are his one and only student! And that you are the keeper on the sacred books, Icha Icha! Please, teach me in the way of the mega pervert!" Naruto dropped his head into his hands while Anko began to kick Sanji for putting it like that.

"What is all the commotion," Jiriaya asked as he walked down the hallway. He blinked in surprise when he locked eyes with his godson. "NARUTO!" He wrapped him up in a hug. "About time you got here! ...Anko-chan, why are you beating that poor man?"

"Because you told him I was your apprentice and he started bowing to me like a god," Naruto stated, pulling himself out of Jiriaya's arms. He helped Hinata back to her feet. "So, do we need to find rooms at an inn, or is there someplace we can sleep for the night?"

Jiriaya grinned and said, "You taking her with you?"

"Maybe."

Jiriaya wiped his eye, muttering about how his nephew had finally grew up. "I'm so proud."

Yugito wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck. "You should be."

Jiriaya dropped his jaw and motioned behind him. "First door on the left, have it."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. Professional Pirates from Muppets Treasure Island was the song in this one.

Congradulation moonangel511 in the closest guess. Don't read if you don't want to find out. She chose to find out what would happen with Talon.


	25. Chapter 25

Naruto woke up and got out of the bed. Humming a song, he stumbled over to the sink. As he was brushing his teeth, he realized he was off tune. He was never off tune except... He rinsed his mouth and said, _"Do, re, me, fa, so, la, tee, do. Crap."_ His voice was really high, making him sound like a chipmunk or something. Groaning he reached into the pocket of his coat and grabbed a small package. He smacked it against the bottom against his palm to pack the contents down before he pulled out what looked like a cigarette and put it to his mouth.

"Those things will kill you," Yugito said as she sat up. The blanket fell to her waist, revealing she wore a blue lace bra.

"_Not these and not me,"_ he said, making her giggle. _"Go ahead, laugh it up. At times, my bloodline and the Kyuubi don't exactly agree. Case in point, when my voice breaks. Normally, my abilities would heal it."_ He cleared his throat and spit something into the trash. **"But so does..."** Now his voice was really deep, making him sigh. **"So does the Kyuubi. They over compensate and messes my voice up like you are hearing. These are actually incense and other things that helps sooths the throat, break up mucus, and saps chakra, letting my bloodline finish."** He snapped his finger, creating a small flame on it and lit the health stick. He took a few puffs on it before sighing and letting the smoke out of his lungs. **"My B**_aa-ch_an proscribed it for me. Much better. Hungry?"

"No, still tired." She laid back down and closed her eyes. When she fell asleep, Naruto was tempted to get back in himself. He knew it was very comfortable between the two. Taking the incense stick from his mouth, he walked over and gave Hinata a kiss on the forehead. "Good morning, hime. I was just going to get breakfast, want me to bring you anything?"

Hinata didn't seem to be fully awake because she said, "I want Naruto." With that, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close before falling back to sleep herself. "Hmm, so warm," she muttered.

Naruto slowly extracted himself from her grip and began to get dressed. Once his hair was spiked again, he flipped his hat on his head, and walked out. He went to the dining room and sat down across from his uncle. He just arched an eye brow at him smoking, though he knew what it was for. "Don't say a word," Naruto told him. Jiriaya just had this look of 'innocence' about him. "Not a word, damn it."

"I would never say any such thing like that about my nephew."

"Bull shit," Naruto called as he started to eat.

Jiriaya just kept smirking at him. Naruto found it annoying but said nothing else. "...Did you hit the G spot?" Naruto's fist met his face. "Should I take that as a yes?"

"We didn't do anything," Naruto insisted.

"Sure," Jiriaya replied.

"We didn't!"

Jiriaya cleared his throat. "Oh Naruto-kun! I'm going crazy! Th...THERE!" Naruto's fist was once again introduced to Jiriaya's face.

"You were listening!?"

"Didn't need to with how loud you kids were." Jiriaya chuckled before he began to eat again. "So did you go the full nine yards?"

"NO! ...Just a shit load of fore play." His face was crimson red. Jiriaya nodded, now able to put a mental image to the words. He took out his note book and wrote it down, making Naruto groan. "Don't worry, I'm not putting you in my next one. You know I don't have a lot of threesomes, so few women are actually willing for that with a guy like me. Can't imagine why. Just need some tips for a scene in my next book." Naruto rolled his eyes before finishing breakfast.

"I'm surprised he is even able to walk," he heard a woman whisper behind him.

"Sir Jiriaya did say he has the endurance to last for days in a fight. I guess it transfers over," another replied.

"Did they even stop last night," a third woman asked. Naruto sighed before turning to them.

"We did around three in the morning. Please, if you are going to whisper behind my back, make sure I can hear you." They blushed and scurried off, leaving him to finish.

—oo000oo—

_six months ago_

—oo000oo—

"That little punk," the new commander of the Dreadnought Bounty hunters growled. "Just how many are dead, injured, and fine?"

"A quarter of our men are dead, half that injured, everyone else is fine. We are still capable of operating," was the reply.

"Good. How much funds do we have at our disposal?"

"Several million berries. Why?"

"Hire Memphis, have him kill the captain of the Leaf Pirates."

—oo000oo—

Naruto was outside the castle, waiting for Luffy to get everything together for them to leave while Jiriaya tried to find a way to Morose Island. So the crew of the Morning Song had a few more days off. No taking care of a ship, no fighting, nothing but relaxation. After he had taken two trays of food to the room he had slept in for Hinata and Yugito, he went for a walk around the city. He stopped when he came to a square. It was busy but their was no music or something that would make it more enjoyable. That just won't do.

Naruto walked to the center, took off his hat, Fuka-hone, and his coat. He set his clothing on the ground and took another drag on his incense stick. He hit a few strings, tuning his guitar. Not far from him, Talon sat on a bench, wondering what he was doing. Naruto smiled at her before suddenly hitting several strings at once.

"As I was going over the Cork and Kerry Mountains, I saw the Captain Farrell, and his money he was counting! I first produced my pistol and then produced my rapier! I said, 'Stand and deliver or the devil he may take ya!'

"I took all of his money, and it was a pretty penny! I took all of his money, yeah, and I brought it home to Molly! She swore that she loved me! No, never would she leave me! But the devil take that woman, yeah, for you know she tricked me easy!

"Musha rain dum a do, dum a da! Whack for my daddy, oh! Whack for my daddy, oh! There's whiskey in the jar, oh!

"Being drunk and weary, I went to Molly's chamber! Taking Molly with me, but I never knew the danger! For about six, or maybe seven, yeah, in walked Captain Farrell! I jumped up, fired my pistols, and I shot him with both barrels!

"Yeah, musha rain dum a do, dum a da, ha, yeah! Whack for my daddy, oh! Whack for my daddy, oh! There's whiskey in the jar, oh! Yeah, whiskey, yo, whiskey! Oh, oh, yeah! Oh, oh, yeah!

"Now, some like a fishing, but some men like the fowling! Some men like to hear, to hear the cannonball roaring! But me, I like sleeping, specially in my Molly's chamber! But here I am in prison! Here I am with a ball and chain, yeah!

"Musha rain dum a do, dum a da! Whack for my daddy, oh! Whack for my daddy, oh! There's whiskey in the jar, oh, yeah! Whiskey in the jar, oh! Musha rain, dum a do, dum a da! Musha rain dum a do, dum a da, hey! Musha rain dum a do, dum a da! Musha rain dum a do, dum a da, yeah!"

Naruto took a deep breath and tossed his dead stick away. People started clapping and asking for another song. Before he could though, an adult also with a guitar stepped up there. He was dressed in all black and smoking a cigarette. He looked at Naruto as he set his guitar case on the ground, opened it, and took a guitar made of steel from it. Naruto watched him do it in return. He took his cigarette from his mouth and placed between his little finger and ring on his strumming hand.

"I can hear what your thinking, all doubts and fear. And if you look at my eyes in time, you'll find the reason I'm here. And in time, all things shall pass away. In time, you may come back some day. To live once more, or die once more. In time, your time will be no more.

"You know you days are numbered. Count them on by one. Like the notches in the handle of an outlaw's gun. You can out run the devil if you try. But you will never out run the hands of time. In time, there'll surely come a day. In time all things shall pass away. In time you may com back, some say. To live once more or die once more. In time your time will be no more. I can hear what your thinking."

When he finished, he put his guitar away and walked over to Naruto. Naruto looked him up and down. "Do I know you?"

"I know you. You're that boy that has been making so many waves lately, at Whiskey Peaks, Black Hills, Texas."

Naruto frowned, "You better get out of my face..." He swiped his cigarette and used to light his next stick. "...because I am trying to relax here and I doubt you are."

"You are right, I'm not. The name is Memphis. You like that song?"

"It was good," Naruto stated.

"I made it just for you, so I can play it at your funeral."

"And are you going to have anything to do with me attending that funeral?"

"I didn't say that."

"So you won't?"

"Didn't say that either." He walked away, leaving Naruto slightly irritated.

Talon walked over to him, "How did you do that? I heard several instruments."

"Well, that is a long story," Naruto stated. "Let's go for a walk and I will tell you."

—oo000oo—

Naruto and Talon were heading back to the castle, having told her the bloodline story. They were busy enjoying the sites when they heard people shouting about a rampant horse on the loose. Naruto turned around and saw the beast, standing over eight feet tall, charging down the road at them. Waiting for the last moment, Naruto grabbed Talon and side stepped it. As it ran pass, Naruto saw it wore black clothing and a guitar case on its back. "Memphis!?"

The horse stood up on his rear legs, changing into a humanoid figure. "Prepare to die," Memphis told him, taking his guitar out and holding it like Naruto held the Fuka-hone in combat. Oddly enough though, Naruto was laughing his ass off. "I fail to see what is so funny about me telling that you will die."

"Just... that you are a horse...wielding a guitar...like a hammer. Can you say something for me? EL COMBONG!" Naruto started laughing again, he hadn't thought of that cartoon in ears!

"I may not know what you are talking about but I know when I have been insulted." Memphis went charging at him and swung his weapon. Naruto blocked it with Fuka-hone.

"Talon, can you do me a favor, go wait for me down the street? This might take a few minutes."

"Uhm, I can...help, Naruto."

"You aren't used to combat yet," Naruto replied. "Don't worry, won't take long." Hesitantly, she ran down away to wait for him.

"You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep," Memphis told Naruto.

"You wouldn't make a girl that pretty cry, would you? Imagine if she got mad! She is of the Dragon Tribe." Naruto dropped back, making him stumble forward, before he delivered a kick to his stomach. Naruto expected him to go flying back, not him to be pushed back a foot and shake it off.

"That was a nice kick, you got some power behind that frail looking body of your's. You eat a cursed fruit as well?"

"Oto Oto," Naruto replied. He took a deep breath and used the wail. Everyone around him covered their ears while glass shattered. He regretted that but he had little choice right now. Memphis stumbled back into the building under the force of it. When he had no where else to go, he force his guitar in front of his chest and head, easing the pressure there. He started walking forward, startling Naruto. When he was close enough, he raised his guitar and slammed it down where Naruto was standing. He jumped back and began a genjutsu. Only to remember to his horror that he had no chakra right then to work with because of his incense sticks. He nearly swallowed the damn thing when he gulped. "Oto Oto Fear!"

Memphis felt the same panic other people had always felt when Naruto used that. But Naruto forgot to take into account the change in his brain from being a horse hybrid. It barely slowed him down. Naruto was hit in the chest and thrown into a building. As he started to fall, he was hit again, being sent right through it. "You know, I prefer not to brute my way in a fight," Naruto told him. The next thing that people saw was the horse moving through the air, his head knocked back with a fist imprinted under his jaw. Naruto was upon him a moment later. Memphis raised a hoof and kicked Naruto in the chest, earning a crack from the bones there. Naruto hit the building again, making part of it collapse on him. Memphis looked at his guitar, seeing Naruto had broke it with that punch. He discarded it and drew his gun.

He walked over to Naruto and looked at him. He was pinned under a beam and had pulled a knife out. "You are one dumb son of a bitch, bring a knife to a gun fight."

Naruto cough and said, "How about you surrender and I will let you live."

"You got guts, I will give you that." He pointed his gun at Naruto's head, who didn't look worried. The sound of a gun went off and no one moved for a moment before Naruto dropped his head to the ground. A moment later, Memphis looked down at his chest, seeing blood coming from it. He turned around where he saw Itachi with his buffalo rifle pointed at his back. "Where the hell you come from?" He fell to the ground as Itachi loaded a new round inside it. Memphis couldn't hold his form anymore and changed back into a human. He looked up at Itachi as he stood over him and pointed the rifle at his head. "Damn..." _**BANG!**_

Itachi looked over at Naruto as he pushed the beam off his chest. "What happened? You shouldn't have needed help with him."

"Conflicting abilities. Too much healing in one spot will make it worst." As he stood up, he stopped smoking the incense. In a few minutes, Kyuubi's chakra would return and begin the painful process of healing the bones.

"So you stopped the Kyuubi from healing," Itachi surmised. "By removing your chakra? You should have signaled for help."

Naruto shrugged, "You came anyway. I just didn't think I would need it." Itachi shook his head and turned to down the street to the waiting Talon. She had ran to get him. "So, now that you have used that, do you still think it is useless?"

"...My arm is numb," Itachi stated before walking off. Naruto laughed before wincing, he took that as a no he didn't.

—oo000oo—

"I am really sorry about the damage, ma'am," Naruto told the woman in front of him while his clones went about fixing the house.

"It is alright," she told him. "I saw it, you were attacked and you stayed to fix the damage. Though how you are doing it, I don't know."

"_**I..."**_ Naruto cleared his throat. "It is something I learned at home." He turned to the clones coming down the street with new windows for her home and the others that he broke. It wasn't cheap but he had more than enough for it. He looked around and saw the repairs were coming along nicely. Luckily, no one decided to press charges against him for this. He saw Talon still waiting for him and sighed. "Talon, maybe you would like to go spend the day with someone else? It must be boring waiting for me."

"I don't mind..."

"Talon, I can see that you do mind and that you wish you had something to do. I'm sure Yugito or Hinata would be more than willing to look after you. Or maybe Gaara, if you don't mind him."

When she hesitated, Naruto took advantage of it and led her away. "Come on, you Gaara is a nice guy. No worries, right?"

She sighed and finally smiled. "No worries." Naruto took her back to the castle and asked around where Gaara was. Told that he was up on the roof, Naruto carried her up there.

"Hey, Gaara, can you do me a favor, please? I'm begging ya, begging ya!"

Gaara gave him a smirk. "Sure, what is it, captain?"

"I need some one to watch over Talon while I clean up my mess. Can you do that for me?"

"I would be honored to. That is, if that is what you want as well, Lady Talon." That sparked Naruto's interest. He would say something like that if hes was trying to get the girl's attention...

He gave a sly grin while Talon blushed a little at the attention. "I...don't mind, Gaara."

"Well, before _I go... Excuse me."_ He cleared his throat again, while making the two laugh a little at him. "Well before I go, I got some advice for you Gaara." He leaned in close and said, "Woman love those slow romantic songs. Try 'You say it best when you say nothing at all' or...'Life is like a boat'. Track eight and thirteen." He unsealed his MP3 player from his arm with a set of speakers for it, wagging his eyebrows.

"...Shouldn't you be going, Naruto," Gaara asked, stoically, hiding his embarrassment well. Naruto laughed before jumping off the roof, back down to the street.

"What was it he told you," Talon asked.

"...He was just telling me to make sure nothing happens to you," Gaara replied. "Would you like to go get something to eat, milady?"

—oo000oo—

When Naruto finished that evening, he started on a new stick and returned to the castle. It was there that he saw Luffy again. With a smile, he walked up to him. "Good evening, King of the Pirates. You know, you could have told me that you were."

"I forgot to tell you," Luffy asked, scratching the side of his head. "Eh," he said with a shrug. "I am so used to everyone knowing that I guess I assumed you knew as well."

Naruto smiled. "Can I see it? One Piece?"

"...Yeah," Luffy said after a minute. "Just know it is nothing that you are expecting."

"May I bring Hinata and Yugito with me," Naruto asked eagerly.

"Sure," Luffy said to him. "I have it here in fact. It is just too important to me to leave on the ship alone. Come to my room in ten minutes." He walked off while Naruto ran to get Hinata and Yugito.

"Hey," Naruto said when he found them. He gave them both a kiss before dragging them off. "Luffy has something to show us!"

"What," Hinata asked, barely able to get her feet on the ground.

"One Piece, the greatest treasure on the Grand Line!" Both could tell from his excitement that this was very important to him.

"I can hardly wait," Yugito said. Naruto stopped in front of the door and knocked, letting the two down.

Luffy opened the door and smiled. "Come on in, take a look!" He got out of the way and let them in. Hinata and Yugito looked around for gold. While Naruto settled his eyes on a rick, black leather bound book.

"Is that it," Naruto asked almost deathly quiet.

"It is," Nami told him. She knew he would grasp what that book meant.

Cautiously, Naruto walked over to it and opened it, almost afraid it would break. "A book," Yugito asked. "The former king of the pirates left a book?"

"Not just any book," Naruto told her. "His ship log, his every adventure. Everything that he own, all in one piece. Take a look." Naruto picked the heavy book up and sat down with it to read.

"One Piece is the dream of every pirate," Luffy said to them. "Few think it is what it is. Most dream it is a 'treasure' beyond their imagining. And it is. The life of one of the greatest men and his crew is in that book. This," he motioned to the log book of the Going Merry and the Thousand Sunny, "is the next One Piece."

Hinata didn't understand as she sat down next to Naruto. "But why lead everyone to believe it is gold?"

Nami smiled. "Because it is a legend. One that will remain eternal for as long as the King keeps it a secret. As the title is passed down with the books, everyone will know that the greatest treasure of all time is being collected and kept by the greatest pirate of all time, even greater than the one before him."

"It is a dream that brings people to the sea even today," Chopper told them. "A dream that should not be shattered. Not by the likes of us." As the three settled down to read the story of the King of the Pirates, Luffy motioned to the door, meaning they should leave them to it.

"We set sail from the Port of Rogue Town, our heads held high. No one there believed we can do it. But not a one of my crew believe we won't reach the end. After all, with a name like _Gold_ Roger, how can I not be destined for greatness!?" Naruto found himself smiling as he continued reading.

—oo000oo—

"So you want on Morose Island," an old voodoo woman said to Jiriaya.

"How did... You know, never mind how you know. How do I reach it?"

She smiled at him. "I am Tia Dalma and I know how. Morose island is the one island on the Grand Line with no cross currents, no hazardous winds. And the one that if you do not know how to reach it, is out of your reach."

"Obviously it isn't because someone is there."

"Yes, Davy Jones," she said to him. "He uses to powers of the Devil Fruit to reach that place."

"He had to find it some how to get there. How did he do it!?"

She kept that knowing smile on him. "The song is how he found it," she told him cryptically. "Tell that boy of yours to play the song and he will find the island as well."

"Naruto!? How did you know about him!?" He grabbed her shirt and pulled her close. "You could find out about what I want through me asking questions. How do you know about my godson!?"

She wasn't deterred or scared of his threatening manner. "I know a lot about this world, Jiriaya of Konoha. I know that Davy Jones is making the fruits that threaten not only your home, but any place they can reach as well. I know that is was his own father that sealed the great fox into him. And that Davy Jones waits now only for the great shark to try and perfect his creation. But he knows not what he is about to create. The power of the Nine were never meant to be used with the Devil Fruit. You do not have much time, he will make his move soon."

Jiriaya growled. "When we are finished, we are going to come back for answers." He turned to leave.

"I already knew that you would, Jiriaya. Give your boy my best wishes. Go first to the Fiddler's Green, have him play it there and he will lead you to it."

"Where the hell is 'Fiddler's Green'!? This some kind of joke!?" He turned around and she was no longer there. "...What the hell? I hate it when people do that to me." He left the shop to go ask Naruto about 'Fox Island' and the song she was talking about.

Tai Dalma watched Jiriaya leave with a smile before she turned back to the Ocean. "It is time, Davy Jones, for you to learn that you have best leave what I have made alone. Four of the greats are going to be meeting you very, _very_ soon, Jones. And it will be something that will never be forgotten on my ocean." She began walking away, changing into water as she did, before she vanished.

—oo000oo—

Jiriaya opened the door to Luffy's room to see Naruto reading while Hinata and Yugito had fallen asleep on his shoulders. "Naruto, we get to Morose through Fiddler's Green!"

All three of them jumped up at him shouting. "About bloody time," Naruto said with a grin that split his face. He threw his coat around him, slipping his arms through the sleeves. "Yugito-chan, go tell Luffy we leave. Make sure to mention he had better not have lost his sea legs! Hinata-chan, go gather everyone up. If you see Gaara with Talon, wait for them last."

"Yes, sir," they both said before running pass Jiriaya.

Naruto flipped his hat on his head before flicking his beads. "Uncle, tell me everything I need to know to get there!"

Jiriaya smiled at him. "Taking command, are we?"

"I'm not giving it up now," was Naruto's reply, making Jiriaya laugh.

"I met with some witch named Tia Dalma. She said that when we get there, you need to sing the 'song'."

"You said her name was Tia Dalma? Impossible. More over, what song?"

"That is what she said," Jiriaya insisted. "She never said the song."

"The person you met doesn't exist!"

"How did she not exist!?"

"Because Tia Dalma is the human name of the Sea Goddess, the one that made the Devil Fruit!" Jiriaya looked shocked by that revelation. "She might have gone by that name but it was not. No one has ever survived having it." He turned for the door and froze. "...The King and his men..." He grinned before turning back. "Maybe she only gone by it for the moment. Hoist the Colors, uncle. That is the song!" He turned back around and ran down the hall.

"...Why am I always missing something?" He ran after Naruto.

—oo000oo—

"Get her sailing lads," Heero shouted. "We have our destination and we won't be letting those bath toys out run the Evening Star!"

The crew of the Thousand Sunny and the Morning Song ran down the docks to their ships. "Walking sushi bar," Zoro shouted to Kisame. "We are going to finish our fight later! Then we will see who is the best swordsman on this ocean!"

"We already know that," Zabuza shouted at him. "The Three Swordsmen of the Konoha Pirates!" Haku grinned, he finally made it.

As the three ships set sail, everything looked bright... "Well, well, if it isn't our friends, the Truth and Reconciliation," Naruto said, looking out across the water. "Let's see what they have to say this time. 'Thousand Sunny, Evening Star, Morning Song, lay down your arms and surrender. The leader, Davy Jone, wants One Piece and Monkey D. Luffy." He laughed. "Zabuza, would you please give them our terms of surrender?"

"A bit anti-climatic," he said, jumping over the side. He performed the handsigns and slammed his hand into the water. "Well, well, the Kraken." He pointed to the dreadnought with a snap of his fingers. "Eat hearty, big guy." He climbed back aboard while the sound of metal straining reached the ship. Followed closely by the whole thing snapping. Behind them, the Truth and Reconciliation sunk to the bottom. No one thought more about it. They were this close to their destination, they would not be slowed now! With the key to the cage waiting for them, they make for Fiddler's Green!

—oo000oo—

Author's notes: I was trying to think of something epic for the end right there and, in truth, I just got done watching Treasure Planet. And I wanted something that meant how important this one was, not just as a non action filler. I hope I got it. I was planning on this chapter to be the last in Alabasta.

As for One Piece itself, I have learned a long time ago to never believe some is what you think it is. And a treasure from one person may only be junk to another. It is with this that I believe that One Piece is the memories made by the crew with Gold Roger. Dispute it if you like but that, and this, is my story and I'm sticking to it.


	26. Chapter 26

Gaara was sitting on the bow that evening. A strong wind was blowing, making even the Evening Star creak under the strain of it. They would be there soon, Naruto gave it five days. He wasn't just staring off out over the water, he was wondering about what Naruto said. It was true that he knew a lot about what would make a woman's heart fly but... He looked at the MP3 player. Would it really work?

Gaara shrugged, no sense in worrying about it if he wasn't going to try. 'Let's see, how to get her attention?' _**'Isn't it cute, you actually think she will be interested in you.' **_"...It has been a while since I took the Crow's Nest. And it is a bit still right now." _**'NO! I swear I'll shut up! Just don't go up there!'**_ Gaara just hummed to himself as he walked up the mast and flipped up over the railing. "I'll take watch, Hinata."

"Thank you, Gaara. Be careful. The rocking was starting to make me a little sea sick."

"Thank you for the warning." He just went back to humming while he leaned against the mast, making sure to feel each and every toss and turn. Shukaku didn't last a minute.

Down below him, Naruto saw Gaara move up there, still carrying him MP3. "Hakari, I believe Hinata has been up there long enough. Change out the watch."

"Aye, aye sir. Gaara! Where he go, damn it. ...Talon, go to the top of the mast and take watch!" Talon looked at her wide eyed. "Yes, you! Listen, you have been getting it easy on this ship for far too long! Now hop to it before I throw you up there!" Talon ran to the rope and started climbing up it. "And don't you dare come down until I tell you! That all captain," Hakari asked.

"That was perfect, thank you." Hakari arched an eyebrow at his choice in words but shrugged. "Anko, you have been doing this for months now and you still can't do that without being watched!?" She went over to her.

"Bite me, guppy!"

"Shut up and do it right before I have you swab the deck!" Naruto laughed, everyone was in a good mood today. He looked up to watch his handiwork.

Talon pulled herself up and said, "Hinata, Naruto said it is time to relieve you of your post."

"Well," Gaara replied, "I already did that. Maybe he can find you something else to do." She nodded and started to climb back down.

"Talon! I told you not to come down until _I_ said so! Get you ass up there!" She was over the railing in a heartbeat.

Gaara looked at Talon then down at the deck, not showing his face. "Don't feel back, Hakari scares us all." He looked back at her and found her pressing herself against the railing. "Still don't feel comfortable with me?" She slowly shook her head no. "...I would go then but I actually need to be up here right now." But he did move over as far as he could.

"...Why?"

"You don't know yet, I forgot. Myself, Yugito, and Naruto have demons sealed away in our bodies. At times, mine acts up. But he hates the rocking of the ocean. So he hasn't been any trouble since I came out here. But we have been on land a few days now and it was pretty still down there so he got complacent."

"Oh... Does he bother you a lot?"

"Not anymore. That is actually why I like it here on the ocean over dry land. Now, get it to move around and I would be perfectly happy."

Talon giggled a little. "Uoi'nota whol uss shlu'ta tlu zeklet'tau whol jalbyr." At his bewildered expression, she smiled and said, "Hell for one can be heaven for another."

"You really said only that? Sounded like you threatened me or something."

"Oh no, I would never do that," she said starting to panic.

"I know, I just meant that sounded really dangerous is all. I like it." When he got her to smile, he mentally notched one point for himself. "Uhm... Do you like music, Talon? By the way, what is your name again?"

"Maelthra Vress'lvel. And yes, I do."

"Vress...level?"

"Vress' l-vel. Vress'lvel. It means Talon, Dragon Talon."

"Vress'lvel. Well, Vress'lvel, I happen to have something here from my homeland that plays music. Would you like to listen to it with me?"

"I would, thank you." Gaara set the speakers down on the ground and tapped the forward button to track thirteen. She was really shocked when it actually started playing. And so was Gaara when she started singing along the parts she understood.

"Nobody knows who I really am. I never felt this empty before. And if I ever need someone to come along, who's gonna comfort me and keep me strong? We are all rowing the boat of fate. The waves keep on comin' and we can't escape. But if we ever get lost on our way, the waves would guide you through another day.

"Tooku de iki wo shiteru toumei ni nattamitai. Kurayami ni omoe takedo mekaku shisareteta dake. Inori wo sasagete atarashii hi wo matsu, azayaka ni hikaru umi sono hate made.

"Nobody knows who I really am, maybe they just don't give a damn. But if I ever need someone to come along, I know you would follow me, and keep me strong.

"Hito no kokoro wa utsuri yuku nukedashita kunaru. Tsuki wa mata atarashii shuuki de fune wo tsureteku.

"And every time I see your face, the oceans heave up to my heart. You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon I can see the shore. Oh, I can see the shore. When will I... can see the shore? I want you to know who I really am. I never thought I'd feel this way towards you. And if you ever need someone to come along, I will follow you, and keep you strong.

"Tabi wa mada tsudzuiteku odayakana hi mo. Tsuki wa mata atarashii shuuki de fune wo terashidasu. Inori wo sasagete atarashii hi wo matsu. Azayaka ni hikaru umi sono hate made.

"And every time I see your face, the oceans heave up to my heart. You make me wanna strain at the oars, and soon I can see the shore.

"Unmei no fune wo kogi, nami wa tsugi kara tsugi e to. Watashitachi wo osou kedo. Sore mo suteki na tabi ne. Dore mo suteki na tabi ne."

Naruto heard the song he suggested and grinned. "Smooth, Gaara, real smooth." Nothing like the subtle message that said she could count on you when she needs to. In his opinion, that is what Talon really needed, just to know that if she was in trouble, her knight in sand armor will come and save her like before. He chuckled when he remembered that comment Chopper made about the Thousand Sunny turning into the Love Boat.

"You have a nice singing voice," Gaara told her, making her blush.

"No, I don't. That person singing is so much better than me."

"Honest, you sounded beautiful," Gaara insisted. "I can't lie, I wouldn't know how."

That blush deepened to the point she covered her face. "Dos ph'ichl valyrin lu'ssinjin. Usstan ssiggrin Naruto zhahuz jallil nesst." She cracked her fingers, revealing one of her serpentine eyes. "Ph'dos galla ulu morfeth uns'aa rei wun ssinssrig xuil dos?"

Gaara looked really confused at that. He sighed before brightening. "Can you teach me that?"

"Drow? You want to learn Drow?"

"Yes. Can you teach me to speak that?"

"...Alright. We'll start with numbers. Uss. Draa. Llar. Quen. Huela. Rraun. Blyn. Lael. Thal. Szith."

"Uss... That sounds like Usstan. Why?"

"Uss is one. Usstan is I. One, I."

"Oh. What about emotions?"

"Uh... Happy is...loff'ta. Mad is vigh. Numl is sad. Kor is anger. Love is ssinssrigg. And hate is phlith."

"...And you said ssinssrigg earlier as well." Making Talon blush anew.

"You misheard me," she insisted. "Uh... Noun. You already know I. To say me, you say uns'aa. You is dos. Us is udossa. Them is mina. They is nind. We is udos. Him is ukta."

"Uns'aa, dos, udossa, mina nind...U..."

"Udos."

"Udos and ukta," Gaara repeated. "...Oh, I never told you what this tattoo means." He tapped the kanji on his forehead. "Ssinssrigg."

She traced it without thinking before jumping back. "Love?"

He nodded. "Let me try something. Us..stan... Usstan ss... ssinssrigg dos? Yeah. Usstan ssinssrigg dos.

"Uh... You said that right, Gaara. Very good..."

Gaara took her hand in his. "Usstan ssinssrigg dos. I mean it."

Talon was quiet for several second before she took her hand back and jumped over the side of the railing. She landed on the deck, startling everyone there. "Talon!? I told you not to come down..." She had already ran below deck. Hakari looked after her and then up at Gaara looking over the railing. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO!?"

"I..." He couldn't say it. "I messed up."

"Oi," Naruto muttered. "Hakari, go make sure that Talon is okay. I'll punish Gaara."

"You should make him walk the plank," she growled before going down.

"Anko, can you hold the wheel a moment." When she took it, he walked to the mast and up it. "Not the highlight of our lives, is it," he said as he sat down next to him. He offered Gaara one of his incense sticks and took one for himself.

"What is my punishment, sir," Gaara asked.

"Right now, nothing. I saw you up here so I sent her up. I thought it would do her good." He shook his head. "Man, what did you say to her?"

"...Usstan ssinssrigg dos," Gaara told him. "I told her I love her in Drow."

Naruto was silent for a moment. "I don't know," he said, letting the smoke from his lungs. "Normally, I would call that one a good way to do it, real romantic with the sunset and the music." He took another drag and let it out while shaking his head. "Hell, it is what I would have done. I don't know... Here, take one."

"No..."

"Take one, they calm ya down. Not to mention it'll probably help keep your demon at bay for a bit." Reluctantly, Gaara took it and, lighting it on Naruto's, took a drag as well. He tried to hold it in but it made him green. The last thing he heard from Shukaku was him yelling how it suddenly got worst. "They won't kill you like cigarettes but that first hit is a dozy." He took another deep breath. "Gaara, I am ordering you to get hammered until you have a hangover from hell. Punishment enough for you?"

"Yes, sir." He took another drag from it, regaining the green he had lost.

"Until then, you are on watch." Naruto got up and walked back down.

—oo000oo—

Hakari headed below deck and was met by Hinata. "Did something happen up there," she asked.

"Gaara, the idiot, hurt Talon's feelings."

"...If he did, she has one odd way of showing it." Hinata led her down to where Talon was. She was sitting on her hammock, knees brought up to her chest, mumbling something. Though she was crying, she didn't look sad. "Do you understand what she is saying?"

Hakari shrugged and leaned in close to listen. "Uk telanthus uk 'che uns'aa! Uk telanthus uk 'che uns'aa! Lu'dos zhaun vel'bol? Usstan ssinssrigg ukta!" Hakari looked at Hinata, confused as hell.

"...Uh... Something about us, stand, and sin...something." She shrugged her shoulders.

Talon giggled and shook her head. "Usstan ssinssrigg ukta! Usstan telanthus usstan ssinssrigg Gaara!" Her tail shaking happily, she then started humming Life is like a Boat. Followed by jumping up and dancing around while singing, "Uk telanthus uk 'che uns'aa! Uk telanthus uk 'che uns'aa!"

The two stared at her and Hakari said what they both thought. "She lost her mind. It was finally too much." She turned back to the stairs. "I must find Gaara and kill him." She walked out onto the deck and grabbed her spear. "Gaara, get down here!"

Both him and Naruto went over to her. "What happened?"

"What!? She is down there, crying, going 'uk 'che uns'aa' and 'usstan ssinss-whatever Gaara'! He finally drove her over the edge!" As she was about to to stab the Suna nin, he grabbed her by the arms.

"Ssinssrigg!? Did she say 'Usstan ssinssrigg Gaara'!?"

"Yes, and you are going to die for it!" Oddly enough, Gaara started to smile.

"Captain, I shall accept my punishment for disobeying orders later!" He pushed her out of the way and ran down the stairs to the sleeping quarters.

"Get back here," Hakari yelled, following him.

"By the maiden," Naruto muttered, following to make sure she doesn't kill his friend. The two froze when they saw Talon turn on Gaara, jumped on him, and kiss him; their jaws hanging. "...Oto? I guess ssinssrigg is a good thing."

The two turned to each other. "Maybe we should leave," they asked each other before walking out.

—oo000oo—

"Who's idea was this again," Kankuro asked. It was that evening and someone suggested they should throw a party while they still had time. It quickly caught on so, they were ow throwing a party. Naruto had clones manning the stations while he was, of course, providing the music. Down below him, Sasuke was dancing with Hakari. Gaara with Talon. Zabuza with Anko, with the agreement nothing would come of it. Hinata and Yugito were dancing with a Naruto each. And Haku was dancing with Temari.

"Baby, lock the door and turn the lights down low. Put some music on that's soft and slow. Baby, we ain't got no place to go. I hope you understand. I've been thinking about this all day long. Never felt a feeling quite this strong. I can't believe how much it turns me on, just to be your man.

"There's no hurry. Don't you worry, we can take our time. Come a little closer, let's go over what I had in mind. Baby, lock the door and turn the lights down low. Put some music on that's soft and slow. Baby, we ain't got no place to go. I hope you understand. I've been thinking about this all day long. Never felt a feeling quite this strong. I can't believe how much it turns me on, just to be your man.

"Ain't nobody ever loved nobody, the way that I love you. We're alone now, you don't know how long I wanted to...lock the door and turn the lights down low. Put some music on that's soft and slow. Baby, we ain't got no place to go. I hope you understand. I've been thinking about this all day long. Never felt a feeling quite this strong. I can't believe how much it turns me on, just to be your man. I can't believe how much it turns me on, just to be your man." Naruto got a drink of water thinking about what song to play next.

"Man, why are we over here while all the girls are over there," Kankuro asked. "Even my little brother has someone to dance with."

Itachi took a drink of his wine. "I don't know. But I am about to change that. Yugito is close to my age." He stood up and walked over. "Naruto, mind if I cut in?"

He was about to protest but was silenced by a kiss from Yugito. "Let him," she said before hitting him on the head and dispelling him.

Naruto saw this and the next song hit him. "Hinata, get up here. Naruto, bring her up here." Everyone looked at her, wondering what he wanted. But Hinata realized it, a duet. She resisted a moment before the clone swept her up and carried her over. "Follow my lead Hinata-chan. Don't worry."

He started playing, **"From underneath the trees, we watch the sky. Confusing stars, with satellites. I'd never dream that you'd be mine. But here we are, we're here tonight. Singing amen I, I'm alive. I'm alive. Singing amen I, I'm alive.**

"Sing with me," he whispered. _**"If everyone cared and nobody cried. If everyone loved and nobody lied. If everyone shared and swallowed their pride. Then we'll see the day that nobody died. I'm singing amen I, amen I, I'm alive. Amen I, amen I, amen I, I'm alive."**_ "Your turn," he told her, making her swallow in fear.

"_And in the air, the fireflies, our only light in paradise. We'll show the world they were wrong and teach them to sing along. Singing amen I, I'm alive. I'm alive. Singing amen I, I'm alive._

"_**If everyone cared and nobody cried. If everyone loved and nobody lied. If everyone shared and swallowed their pride. Then we'll see the day that nobody died. I'm singing amen I, amen I, I'm alive. Amen I, amen I, amen I, I'm alive. If everyone cared and nobody cried. If everyone loved and nobody lied. If everyone shared and swallowed their pride. Then we'll see the day that nobody died." **_"My turn again."

"**And as we lie beneath the stars, we realize how small we are. If they can love, like you and me, imagine what the world could be.**

"_**If everyone cared and nobody cried. If everyone loved and nobody lied. If everyone shared and swallowed their pride. Then we'll see the day that nobody died. I'm singing amen I, amen I, I'm alive. Amen I, amen I, amen I, I'm alive."If everyone cared and nobody cried. If everyone loved and nobody lied. If everyone shared and swallowed their pride. Then we'll see the day that nobody died."**_

Hinata finished, stressed out but having fun. Seeing his chance as she walked down, Kankuro dispelled the clones she was dancing with. "Mind if I?"

She laughed, "Sure."

Jiriaya grumbled, "that just leaves us old people. Don't know why."

"When I was a young boy, my father took me into the city, to see the marching band," Naruto sang, already moving into his next song.

—oo000oo—

"Land ho!" Naruto looked to the right to the Evening Star. She had the taller mast so it made since that she saw it first.

"Gaara, do you see it," he said, tossing the telescope up to him.

"Yeah. Mediterranean climate. Forest and field covered."

"Fiddler's Green," Naruto stated. "Hakari, have a few go ashore, check it out."

"Aye, aye, sir. Kisame, Itachi, Zabuza, get your gear and go! I want to know how close we can pull the Morning Song and the other ships! And don't forget to make sure it is safe enough to land at all!"

Kisame shook his head, "Thinks she can order me around." Zabuza smiled, this was going to be funny.

"YES, I DO! I am the first mate of this ship so you better do as I say!" She grabbed him by the back of his shirt and threw him over the side of the ship. Samehada followed him. "Anyone else going to question me?"

"No ma'am," Itachi replied before going over the edge with Zabuza.. Behind him, Sasuke was laughing his ass off.

"Something funny, Uchiha?" Sasuke snapped to attention when Hakari turned to him. She maybe his girlfriend but right now, she was the first mate of the ship.

"No, ma'am!"

"Oh, that is good... Because you are going with them."

He dropped his head. "Damn." He walked over to the railing and flipped over it as well.

—oo000oo—

"Everything here shows fire scaring," Itachi said. The whole island was covered in new growth. But it wasn't even. Some was years old, others months or even weeks. The trees' lower branches were all burned free of leaves and were withering, while the trunk showed sign of the bark changing to charcoal.

"Of course," Kisame said. "This is Fiddler's Green. There is an animal here that is a fire spirit of sorts. They raise the plant life only to help it regrow anew. I'm surprise we haven't already seen a few. They are very curious little ermines." The tall grass across from them shook a little. "Ah, as if on cue. There is one now, a ho-kitsu."

"A ho-kitsu?" Sasuke walked over and slowly parted the grass. "A fox?" He reached down.

"DON'T!" Too late, fire shot from the mouth of the fox for a moment, covering Sasuke. When the fox stopped, the kit turned around and ran away while Sasuke fell to the ground, wisp of smoke coming off him. "They don't like being touched," Kisame finished.

Itachi smirked at his poor brother while Zabuza outright laughed. "...How do you know," Itachi asked after a moment.

"I've been here before. In the calm waters, there is a tribe of fishmen that made my Samehada." He looked around some more. "Anyway, those ho-kitsu live around a hundred years each, growing a new tail every decade. Since your brother just called it a fox, I am going to say it was a fox kit."

"Anything else dangerous here," Zabuza asked, poking a twitching Sasuke with a stick.

"None that naturally live here. Spread out and be back in about ten minutes. Itachi, stay with your brother to make sure he doesn't do anything else stupid." The two swordsmen walked off in separate directions. Itachi looked at his brother and smiled. A quick search of him allowed him to get another of his books. He reached into his own pocket and pulled out a marker.

—oo000oo—

"AHAHAHAHA!" Naruto could barely stand, Sasuke looked funnier than the Hokage statues did that time he painted them. "I...I... AHAHAHA!"

"Shut up!" He growled while he continued before tackling him to the ground. "SHUT UP!" The two bickered back and forth a few minutes, while the adults around them sighed. There was no stopping them. Naruto rolled and pushed him off.

"Alright, enough, time to find the bell."

"What bell," Jiriaya asked. "You're talking about that song again, aren't you?"

Naruto nodded, "You remember it, right Yugito-chan?"

"Bell... Hoist the Colors? You mean that song you sung back then is the secret to reach Morose?"

"What is going on," Jiriaya asked.

"There is a legend that once, a long, long time again, the Goddess of the Sea was sealed inside a mortal shell. It was on an island that later became the strong hold of the men that did it. It was said to be an island that can not be sailed to except by those that knew where it was. 'The King and his men stole the Queen from her bed and bound her in her bones. The sea be ours and by the power, we sail where we would roam. Some has died, some has survived. Others sail on the sea. With the keys to the cage. The devil to pay, we make for Fiddler's Green.' Sound familiar?" Everyone gaped at him.

"But another part of the legend was that there was a way to find the island by others supposedly. 'The bell has been raised from its watery grave. Do you hear it's sepulchral tone? We call to all, pay heed the squall. And turn your sails to home.' Now, does anyone want to bet that somewhere in the water around the island of Fiddler's Green, there is a bell? A bell that, when rung, will lead the ringers to the island that no man can find unless he has been there before."

Anko nodded, "Hakari, Kisame, Haku, Zabuza, start searching the water. We will start searching the land in case someone brought it ashore."

Zabuza nodded and the four of them turned to the water. "Oh, and watch out for these multi-tailed foxes. They are fire spirits and don't like being touched. Just ask Sasuke."

—oo000oo—

Talon and Gaara walked along, looking high and low for anything metal. "Gaara," she called to him from a top the trees, "can I ask you about the figure head on the Morning Song?"

"What about the Maiden?"

"Why do you have 'her' instead of someone else? I would hardly expect to see Zeklet'tau on any human ship."

Gaara stopped and looked up at her. "Who?"

"Zeklet'tau, the first queen of the Heron. She was the only one of her kind, I guess you could say. While all other heron before and since have been as peaceful as they are pale, she was colored of coal, knew the skill of the sword, and had the will to use it against any that would threaten her people. My mother used to tell me about her when I was a nestling. She once fought against this giant shark turtle creature with three tails and won, though it is said that it refused to die even from it's lethal wounds."

"Isonade," Gaara stated, "the Demon Shark. So the Maiden is really Zeklet'tau of the Heron Kiowa?"

"She is."

"Hmm. She was put there when Naruto took the ship, him having destroyed the old figure head. Only the men that put her there know why though."

—oo000oo—

"Hey," Kisame called behind him to Hakari. "There is a tribe of fishmen near here, maybe they may know about the bell."

"That is good to know... You know, I can't help shake the feeling that I know these waters."

"Don't see how, unless of course, you are from here. Then it is reasonable. By the way, why are you even with Naruto's crew? What he do to rope you as well?"

"I am from somewhere on the Grand Line. I was swimming too far from home and was caught by the current. I was carried so far North that I lost my way home. Naruto said he would take me back to it."

"Oh... Well, I know where most tribes on the Grand Line stay at. Tell me their name."

"...It was..." She sighed, "It was so long ago that I am having trouble remembering. The...Star... The Star Child tribe."

"Really? Now that is a coincidence, that is the tribe up ahead. The Star Child tribe made me my Samehada back when I lived on the Line myself."

"REALLY!?" She pulled ahead and down to the sea floor. She searched for a marker to point the way to the village. When she found it, she started racing after it. Faster than even Kisame could follow. "I'M HOME, I'M HOME, I'M HOME!"

"Hey, wait up!" Kisame already knew the way to the village so he headed straight for it instead of following the markers. He came to it and was greeted by several people, some of which still recognized him. "Arc, long time," he said to the shark blacksmith.

"Kisame, it has been a long time. I trust you have been taking care of my sword?"

"I have. Trained with some of the best swordsman on earth to learn to wield him properly."

"I expected nothing less. What brings you back this way?"

"Sailing by, looking for a man that is stirring the waters with fake Devil Fruit."

"Ah, him," Arc replied, not surprised. "Make sure to give him one for me. That bastard caught one of us some years ago for some reason. Can't find him though."

Kisame nodded. "You seen a girl come this way? Kelp like hair, sea green scales, looks a lot like you."

"You finally get a daughter?"

"No, she is also part of the crew. Came with, looking for home. Almost fifteen now, carries a spear."

Arc was quiet for a moment. "No, haven't seen her. What is the child's name?"

"Ha..."

"Mom, dad!?" Hakari shouted when she came to the village. "Kisame? How did you get here so quickly?"

"I know where it is."

She looked sheepish before turning to Arc. "Excuse me sir, do you know where a family that has lost their daughter is?"

"...Hakari?"

"You know me!? Please, tell me where my parents are! Are they still here!? Alive!?"

He held up his hands. "They still live here and are still alive. My brother and his wife have given up hope in finding you. Come with me." He turned around and started swimming to a giant conical shell. "Ray, Clair, you need to come out here a moment."

A woman that had the dorsal fin and skin of a dolphin and kelp like hair walked out, holding a bowl filled with underwater fruit. "What is..." She dropped the bowl, letting it shatter, as she looked at Hakari. "My...baby? Hakari?" She whispered it, afraid that getting louder would make her leave again.

"Mama!" Hakari jumped into her arms and hugged her with all her strength. Clair hugged her back.

"My little girl is back," she cried, unable to shed her tears because the water. "My baby girl is back..." Behind the two, Stingray, her father, had froze at the door. He was holding a child a few years old and beside him was a little five year old boy.

"Father, why is mama hugging her," the boy asked.

Stingray swallowed and said, "Because that is your older sister." He walked over and hugged Hakari as well. "Thank Umberlee that you have returned," he said to her.

Hakari kept on crying. "I'm home, mama, I'm finally home."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. Now, some of you may be saying about Talon that she lost her fear awful fast. Wrong. Don't forget that not only is she having sessions with Itachi daily, it isn't a stone toss from one island to another. Some take weeks to sail. So I am going to say she has been with the crew for over a month now. Again, the site to find the drow translator is www. eilistraee. com/ chosen/ language.php (won't show up if I put it as a one word. So take out the spaces and you got).

Someone once asked the significance of the Maiden. In truth, she is what the drow look like, though without the wings. I was wondering if anyone made the connection with the heron and her?

(Sniff) Hakari is finally home. Touching moment, if I so say so myself.


	27. Chapter 27

"Hinata," Naruto asked her. She was standing as close to the center of the island as they could with her Byakugan activated. The island was too large for her to see all of even with it but she would still see most of it. "Any signs of it?"

"...No," she replied. "It isn't anywhere within two miles. But we have a visitor, Naruto-kun."

"Really," Yugito asked, looking around and seeing no one.

"Two feet from Naruto's left, a little behind, and creeping closer on him."

Naruto turned around and looked where she said, but all he saw was tall grass. He reached down and pushed the grass out of the way to reveal a ho-kitsu. "What are you doing here, little one?" It was a kit, if what Kisame told them was right, as it only had one tail. It was looking at him curiously, unsure what to make of him. As Naruto started pulling his hand away, not wanting to look like Sasuke, the kit jumped at his hand, bit his coat sleeve, and climbed up it. It ran up his arm to by his head. "I thought they don't like to be near us."

"From the looks of it, they do," Hinata said, "you at least." She turned around after spotting another. "...Three of them?" A two tail and a three tails were walking slowly up to Naruto. They sniffed him, jumped back when he shifted, before sniffing him again.

"Why do they like me," Naruto wondered.

"Can't smell it," Yugito asked. "They smell a little like you do which has them confused."

"Huh," Naruto asked.

"Naruto, too you, what do I smell like?"

"A cat," Naruto replied almost without thinking.

"Why is that," she continued.

"Nekomata."

"Now what is inside you?"

"Kyuubi."

"And he is?"

"A nine tailed fox."

"That controls?"

"Fire," Naruto finally realized. "A nine tailed fox that controls fire while these foxes grow to be nine tailed and control fire themselves. Could they be related?"

"Maybe, who knows what the Bijuu did before they came to be sealed inside us."

Naruto reached a hand down slowly and began to scratch the ears of one of them. The fox spirit was tense the first few moments before relaxing into it. The other one mewed before running off. Hinata watched it run off while she deactivated her Byakugan. "Do you think I can pet one?"

"I don't know, wouldn't hurt to try." He rethought that after he said it. "Much at least." He reached up, lightly picked up the kit, and held her out to Hinata. She reached out and slowly scratched her ears without getting torched.

"She is so cute," Hinata said.

"They are at that," Naruto agreed. He looked around and took a step...before being tackled by several of the fire foxes, making both Hinata and Yugito laugh.

"I guess they see you as family," Yugito stated. She knelt down and picked a fox off his face. "Hows the family reunion?" He seemed very tight lip though. "Something wrong?"

"...Ticklish," was all he said.

"Really," Hinata asked. "We should test out this weakness and try to find where it is centered." She looked around and grinned evilly when she spotted a feather. She picked it up and swirled it around in between her fingers. "Yugito, where do you think we should try first?"

"Oh, I think we should let them find it first."

"Not that I mind," Anko said, leaning against a tree. "After all, I am hardly one to shy away from sex. But not while on a mission."

"...Wasn't my idea, sensei," Naruto told her, barely holding back his laughter as a kit got under his shirt. They all stood up and looked behind Yugito when a mew came. A fox half the size of Anko with nine tails stood there with what looked like disapproval to the humans on his face. One of his tails flicked behind him and the foxes all jumped off. Naruto gave a sigh of relief until the kit under his shirt started squirming to get out. He poked his head out of Naruto's collar, looked around, saw the elder, and jumped out onto his chest. "A chibi Kyuubi," Naruto said, lifting his head. A trail of fire escaped from the elder's mouth as he motioned to the side with his head. The ho-kitsu all ran off but the elder, who only stayed long enough to bow its head to them before leaving. Naruto sat up and looked after them. "...Interesting." They all jerked their heads as a gunshot split the air from the southwest, it was from a pistol, pointed to the sky. "...Kankuro," Naruto stated, "he found it."

—oo000oo—

The bell was the taller than Naruto was with dried barnacles on it and vines wrapping around it. Kankuro could hardly believe it when he stumbled across it. He pulled the vines off and grabbed his magnum. He first hit the barrel against it, getting a solid ring from it. "Be-a-utiful." He raised it into the air and pulled the trigger. The shot rang out and he waited. Soon, his brother and Talon arrived, followed by his sister, Haku, and Zabuza. Itachi and Jiriaya then came. The last was Naruto, Hinata, Yugito, and Anko.

"Where are Kisame and Hakari," Naruto asked.

"They went deeper in the calm waters," Zabuza said. "They couldn't have heard it."

"Haku, Zabuza, find them later. Someone give me a hand." They tossed a rope over a tree branch and tied it to the bell and pulled it into the air. Tying the rope off, Naruto began to clean the moss off it to take a look at the engravings. To reveal...a regular steel gray bell. "That's it? I was expecting something different."

"So we are back at square one," Jiriaya asked.

"No, square one is not even knowing who is the cause of all this." Naruto walked around it, looking for anything on it that was different. "We have the key, we just need to figure out how to put it inside the keyhole."

Kankuro thought about it for a moment. "I once was given a puzzle by my father. It was a box with one key but many key holes. He told me to open it. I tried to get the key inside each hole but none of them fit the teeth right."

"I remember that, you were so frustrated," Temari stated.

"Yeah, Gaara was the one to solve it though. He took the key from me and turned it around to a little metal rod that out stuck from the other end."

"...I didn't know you had such a hard time on that," Gaara said after a moment. "Just made since, if you have the right key but it doesn't fit the hole, try a different side of the key."

"Ah, look under it." Naruto pulled it higher up and looked inside. "Eureka."

"What is it, a map," Jiriaya asked.

"Isn't a chart like I know it," Naruto replied from the inside. "The inside has pins and pin holes everywhere but in a pattern. I just can't read it."

"Hey, super brat," Zabuza said, getting his attention. "Did you say the lyrics were, 'Can you _hear_ its sepulchral tone'? Ring it."

"Of course, why else a bell?" Getting out of it, he raised his fist and hit it, making it ring loud enough to be heard all over the island. To the others, it just sounded like a mournful sound. But to Naruto, having a special affinity to sounds, he felt something he had never felt before. That one note had thousands of pitches and waves. He could hear something was in it but he didn't know what.

"Well that didn't work," Haku said.

"No, it worked perfectly, the map is in the note," Naruto told him. "...Water, it was in the water for a reason. We need to get it back to the ocean." Carrying it to the beach, Naruto rung it again. He saw the water ripple from it and smiled. "A still pool...there is one." Placing the bell over a tide pool, Naruto wrung it again. The sound waves hit the water and the ripples formed the island and the currents around it. He started to chuckle, then fully laugh when they returned to normal. "I can barely believe it is that simple!" He turned took out his sea chart and a pen. It took several tries but he copied the currents around Fiddler's Green to the map. "And there she is." He laid the map on the ground and point to it. "The waters to the north and south are both warm, keeping a current from being formed. As it is warm all around it, there is no wind either. That is why you can't get to it, there is almost nothing to move your ship there."

"Then how do we get there," Temari asked.

"Almost is the key word. At Morose, there is a fresh water river the empties into the ocean. The water is almost ice and it creates a single current that runs through it. There is only one way to get to it, through what the chart calls Devil's Spires. Twin Volcanoes that rise from the ocean. The current goes from those to Morose, all the way north to the coast of the Elemental continent, cutting a clear path through the Calm Belt. We can ride this bastard home." He smiled at the thought of finally seeing Hokage Sarutobi again. "And it takes us right by Morose."

"So we ride the big cahuna back," Jiriaya said.

"Yeah, this is likely what brought Hakari north... That must mean her home is near by." His smile turned a little sad that he would no longer sail with his friend. "Well, we better go find them and get ready to leave."

"Already," Kisame asked as he walked up the beach. "We only just got here. Don't we have to wait?"

"Nope, well we do for Hakari. But the path forward is clear for once."

"That's good," Kisame replied. "But I fear that waiting for Hakari is pointless. She found her home and her parents. I doubt she is coming back."

"She...isn't," Sasuke asked.

"...She said she would come with us until I got her home," Naruto said. "She is home and happy now, hopefully. We won't begrudge her that. Someone go inform the Evening Star and the Thousand Sunny our course."

—oo000oo—

"Sir," one of the warriors stationed on Morose called as he ran down the hall. "SIR! Three pirate warships are coming this way! Two brigantines and a frigate! One is the Thousand Sunny, I know not who the other two ships belong to! Their banner is a skull with the headband with a leaf on it!"

"A Leaf," Davy Jones asked. "My my, chakra users coming to me instead of the other way around."

Another warrior started running down, "SIR! A GIANT TURTLE SHARK MONSTER HAS RESTED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF THE ISLAND! ONE OF THE MEN PANICKED AND FIRED HIS PISTOL AT IT! IT IS TEARING THE NORTHERN FORT APART!"

"When it rains," Jones muttered. "Battle positions! Send the dreadnoughts Darkness Blade and the Death's Embrace to deal with the pirates! Have the frigate Descent engage the Three Tails, Isonade, and try to draw him into attacking them as well! Do not let them get near this island!" The two ran off to carry out the orders while Jones vanished and reappeared on the highest point of Morose. To the south he saw the three ships following the current to the island while not very far north, Isonade was in a rage and attacking everything that was there, human, human made, even the stone, to make sure it killed everything.

He looked back at the ships. He could see the crew on each preparing their cannons to open fire on them. He looked at each and noted their weapons. The Thousand Sunny had the strongest weapon, one so strong that if used too many times would destroy the ship. He was sure that wouldn't be used except as a last resort. The frigate had over fifty guns. While the brigantine had thirty heavy guns. This was going to be bloody and in their favor if Isonade wasn't turned on them as well.

—oo000oo—

"_Naruto,"_ came from the Evening Star. _"We will hold them off, take the chance and go destroy that tree."_

"_Thank you, friends. We will do it. Fair winds."_

"Everyone, we are going to head in," Naruto called the ship. "Half of us stay with the Evening Star for when they board, the other half will come with us to infiltrate and destroy the tree and kill Davy Jones! Anko, Zabuza, choose who your taking!"

"Aye aye, brat," Zabuza said. "Gaara, Kankuro, Temari, Haku, Kisame, Talon, you all need space to attack so you are coming with me over to the Evening Star. Sasuke, you as well."

"Jiriaya, Itachi, Baki, Naruto, Hinata, Yugito, we are going a shore," Anko shouted. "Zabuza, get your team over there!"

"Right. You heard her, move out!" They all jumped over the railings and ran over to the other ship.

"Naruto, get us over there!"

"RIGHT! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" He created a clone that then created enough to man the ship and moved her forward. "HEY JONES," Naruto shouted, his voice going for miles over the water. "WE'RE HERE TO KICK YOUR ASS!"

Yugito rubbed her ears before saying, "Think he was loud enough for him to hear?"

"What," Anko asked her. "I can't hear you!" Naruto grinned sheepishly while rubbing the back of his head.

Naruto looked out across the water where he was certain that the man they had come here for was waiting. "We're going in!"

—oo000oo—

They landed and Naruto had his clones take the Morning Song back out to keep her safe and to help the others. "Let's go!" They started running, forcing their way through the defenders. "Naruto, you know the most about the Devil Fruit so your objective is to get there and destroy it, despite what may happen to us," Anko ordered.

"But..."

"NO BUTS! This bastard needs to be stopped and the tree destroyed!"

"Naruto," Jiriaya said to him, "she is right. Our mission is to destroy it, even if it calls for our lives. The mission comes first."

"...Yes, uncle." He brought Fuka-hone down on the shoulder of a warrior that blocked his way. "But don't go out of your way to die, understand!?" He kicked the next person and grabbed him by his head with his free hand. He slammed him against the wall. "Where is Jones and the Tree!?" He weakly pointed down the hall. Naruto let him go before reaching back and slamming his fist into his stomach, nearly breaking the wall. They headed down the hall way to find several men taking a bite out of odd looking fruits. "NO! DON'T..."

—oo000oo—

Sasuke was ready to go deaf from all the cannons going off. The three ships had engaged the two from Morose and they had been firing all the way up until just now when the Evening Star got close enough to one to board. The sailors from the enemy ship crossed over and melee fighting broke out. He was amazed by the efficiency of the Swordsmen from Mist. He had already seen Zabuza fight before but the sheer damage they all caused when working in tandem was amazing. Behind them, the Sabaku siblings were launching their attacks over them to take the enemy apart. All in all, it was frightening. And yet, the enemy kept charging and their numbers did not dwindle. His Sharigan was blazing in his eyes as he jumped over a low stab from a sword and kicked him in the head. When he saw a gun get pointed at his head and the man pull the trigger.

Sasuke flinched when he heard the gun go off but that was all. He looked at him to see a Fishman with six arms lifting the sailor into the air and swinging him around like a rag doll, sending others to the ground. "Funny thing," he heard from a familiar water logged voice. He spun and saw Hakari pulling her spear out of one of the men. "I came back to shore and what did I not find? My ship was gone, savvy? Now, I ask myself, why the hell they got into a fight without me!?"

"You were home," Sasuke countered. "Naruto said you were only with us until then!" He picked up a scimitar and stabbed it into the next person. His hands flashed through a series of handsigns before he shot several small fireballs out his mouth and hit them. "I'm glad you are still here though!"

"Yeah, that is another thing, I got myself a real nice boy here and, as much as I love my family, I just don't think I can leave him behind here!"

"Really!? That's great!" Hakari pushed him aside, making the man behind him miss with his mace. She stabbed him in the chest with her spear and helped Sasuke back up. "I was really going to miss you!"

"Good," she said to him. "Because I just realize something before I came over here!"

"What's that!?"

"Isonade is heading this way!"

"...FUCK!"

"That is what I thought," she told him. "So, if we are going to die, might as well not have a regret, right!? So I figured, I'd come here and save you until he got here! I know we can't outrun him!"

Sasuke thought about it carefully, no, he did not want to die with a regret. "Hakari, marry me!"

"WHAT!?"

"Marry me!"

"Is this really the time for that!?"

"We don't have anytime," Sasuke said, pointing at the coming demon.

"...Heero, marry us," Hakari shouted up to where he was fighting a couple of the sailors from the Death's Embrace.

"I'm a little busy at the moment!"

"DO IT," Sasuke roared.

"Alright!" He stabbed the person he was fighting and jumped up on the wheel box. "Dearly beloved, we be gathered here today..." he stabbed someone trying to rush him, "to nail yer gizzard to the mast, you scurvy cur!"

"Hakari, do you take me to be your husband!?" He blocked an overhead slash while Hakari stabbed him.

"I do!"

"That's great."

"Uchiha Sasuke, do you take me to be your wife," she jumped up and kicked another enemy in the head, "in sickness and in health, with health the less likely!?"

"I do!"

"By the power invested in me," Heero shouted, his sword moving back and forth to block two different enemies. "You may kiss..." He jumped over a slash and swung his sword, slitting his throat. "You may kiss..." He raised his pistol, shot a man, and jumped off the box. "Just kiss!"

Sasuke spun around, going into an overhead slash of the person he felt behind him, and it was blocked by Hakari and her spear. He saw they were alone for the moment, and kissed her.

Not far away, Gaara was using his sand to protect himself and Talon. He formed several sand clones and had them start attacking. "Are you okay, Talon?"

"I am, Gaara, thank you."

"I will protect you no matter what."

"I know you will, Gaara-san. But we have a problem coming at us right now." She was looking out over the water. "One of those creatures you told me about is coming this way, one like the ones sealed in you, Yugito, and Naruto."

Gaara looked behind him and said the one thing he felt right then. "Damn... Talon, I can fight him but you have to trust me."

"I do, and I can help as well."

"But you can't fight, can you?"

"Like this, no. But I am still a member of the Dragon Clan." Gaara nodded before his hands came up in a handsign. Sand started to gather around himself to the point he had to get off the ship to keep it from sinking. Luckily the water wasn't that deep. He became his Shukaku form, towering over the ships and the island. "Talon," he said from the mouth of the sand demon, looking down at his hand.

She nodded and closed her eyes. Her breathing almost stopped for a moment before she snapped her eyes open and the eye slit inside almost vanished from how narrow it now was. Six wings spread from her back as her tail split at the end and grew much longer. Her neck extended and scales covered her body, turning silver. Her fingers and toes became talons and her chest expanded while she grew in size until she was bigger than the dreadnoughts. A forward hooking fin formed on her head in place of her hair. She growled, pulling up the lips on her dragon face to reveal teeth as long as a person's forearm, before roaring. Everything stopped as they looked at her, flying in circles around Gaara and Isonade. She growled at Isonade with wisp of frost coming from her throat. Down on the Evening Star, Hakari stared at her wide eyed and said, "Is that the gecko?"

Sasuke nodded, "That is Talon, though I barely believe it."

"...I will never yell at her again." Sasuke couldn't even reply to that. The girl that had been so shy she outright refused to talk to anyone but Naruto at first had been able to become this the whole time. It truly is always the quiet ones. Isonade looked between the two and began to growl. He charged at them, throwing massive waves around.

—oo000oo—

Naruto was punched by a man with Devil Fruit powers but didn't eat one from the tree. His hair and armor was silver and he had a katana at his side. "That hurt," he muttered as he picked himself off of the tree.

"Hey, Leaf fuck," a red head not far away shouted. "Get me out of this damn thing and I will help you!"

"That..." He had a fist slammed into his face and flew into the tree again. He tasted blood and looked up. "You are going to pay for that, tinker bell."

He laughed. "Tell me, Uzumaki Naruto, do you fear death?"

"Do you!? Gum Gum Rocket!" Luffy hit Jones and threw him into the wall and through it. "Heady tonic, holding life and death in the palm of one's hand," he said with a grin. "Yo Naruto."

"Luffy! Glad you made it!"

"Of course I made it, did you think otherwise?"

"If you two are done, get me out of this damn tree," Tayuya shouted.

Luffy nodded. "I'll hold him back, you get them out, Naruto." He looked to Jones and ran at him.

Naruto looked back at the girl. "Give me a moment."

"Hurry up, shit face! Don't worry about me, I can't be cut! Hack this mother fucker apart!" Shaking his head, he started swinging Fuka-hone and soon freed her. He pulled her out of the space, making her scream as roots were pulled from her body. "That fucken hurt!"

"I didn't know!"

"I don't give a flying fuck! You still caused it, asshole!"

Naruto had enough. "I should have left you on it for when I blew it up, bitch!"

"Mother fucker!"

"Whore!"

"Stop flirting," Jiriaya shouted. "Get the others off that damn thing and get rid of it!"

Naruto nodded, "Listen, help me get the others off here and we will blow this place to hell."

"About fucking time!" A bone extended from her hand in the shape of an ax. She went to the first person, a black man. "You alive, fucker? ...This one is brain dead."

"What!?"

"Happens if they are attached for too long." She found a guy with only one hand and a scar on his face. "You there? Good, still alive." She raised her ax and broke the tree apart. She grabbed his shoulders and pulled. The pain woke him up. She dropped him on the floor and went to the next person.

Naruto went through them and found one he didn't expect. "Sasori!? I thought you were dead!" The head didn't move. "Huh?" He pushed the head and found it was just wood. He ripped the shirt off and found the real Sasori in his chest.

"WHERE," Tayuya screamed. "Sasori, which are you!"

"...This one," Naruto told her quietly. She ran up to him and froze. "What he do?"

"Killed the only people that cared... The fuck isn't even worth killing now." But she had to hurt him some how. She raised her ax and crashed it against his head and body, destroying it. In moments, he lost what took him years to build. Still not enough for Tayuya. She left, leaving the roots to tear through the only flesh and blood that was Sasori. Naruto was about to go when Jones appeared in front of him. He was barely able to get Fuka-hone up in time to block him.

"Red head, finish up, I got work to do here!" He was pushed back by the assault. He found himself pressed against the tree and Jones feigned right. Naruto went for a block and was stabbed in his left shoulder.

"You have caused me a lot of trouble," Jones growled. "But, Devil Fruit user, I will correct that now." He pushed the blade further in his and the tree until it would not be easily removed. As Naruto roared in pain, he reached up and picked a fruit. "You know, I was making these so I could get every single ability that they give. Then, when I am the most powerful being on earth, give some to my soldiers so that they could be of some use. But I still have yet to perfect it, a person already with an ability will be torn apart by it, painfully. Say ah, boy." He forced Naruto to open his mouth and put the fruit in it. Naruto tried to fight him off but nothing worked. His eyes wide as the sickly yellow fruit was put in and then his jaw forced to shut, taking a bite. Naruto refused to swallow so Jones covered both nose and mouth. Naruto struggled, kicked, thrashed, even tried to pulled himself down to free himself of the sword. But Jones had too strong a grip. His eyes began to roll in the back of his head from holding his breath for so long when Luffy finally recovered from that last attack. He sent a punch to Jones but the man didn't move. Instead, he punched Naruto in the gut. Naruto cried out in pain for a moment. Then in horror as he realized he swallowed it. "Enjoy, boy."

—oo000oo—

For the first time in a while, Kyuubi woke up. The boy, his power, and the seal often kept him suppressed and without energy. But a new energy was being introduced to him. He watched it as it began to mix with the others. And then the tree that represented his gathered energy exploded. He looked around and saw that other trees in the forest were doing the same thing. The boy was being torn apart from the inside out. He growled, not sure what was going on. He began running and found it. A fruit like the one from so many years ago had appeared and was mixing with the roots. "_**I will not die today... Can't get rid of it, then I will have to force it to calm. Don't think I am doing this to ask for forgiveness! You survive, I survive!"**_ His chakra began to encircle it and focused on getting them to mix. _** "Well, that is a nice ability."**_

—oo000oo—

Jones pulled the sword out and dropped him. Naruto fell to the ground and laid there. "Still a failure. Oh well. Now," he said as he turned to Luffy. "To deal with you, your highness."

"N-No," Hinata stuttered, ducking away from her opponent and running to him. "NARUTO!"

"Well now," Jones said as he looked at her. "He had a girlfriend. My, what pretty eyes. Something special about them?"

Luffy tried to hit him with several punches. "Leave her alone you bastard!" Try as he might though, he couldn't hit him. Jones kept appearing in different spots.

"Forget it, pirate," Jones said, mockingly. "King indeed. I ate the Port Port Fruit. I can appear anywhere I want. Even..." His voice came from behind Luffy next. "Behind you." Luffy felt something in his back and looked down in disbelief. "Is that all? Is this how the mighty die?" The katana was going though Naruto's stomach. He pulled it out and Luffy fell to his knees. Jones raised his sword to take his head off and brought it down... But he didn't get far.

"_**I don't like the pup's voice power much," **_Naruto said as he struggled back to his feet, shocking everyone there. **_"But this new ability is more my style."_** Naruto lifted his head and showed his eyes were red and slits. _**"He is taking a nap right now, so I suggest everyone else get out of here."**_

"Oh... My... God," Anko muttered, realizing just who was speaking. "The Kyuubi..."

"_**I SAID GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!"**_

Jiriaya swallowed. "Why are you giving us the option?"

Kyuubi growled in irritation. _**"Because none of you interest me but him."**_ He pointed to Jones. _**"And you too, Pirate King. Despite that wound, you are fine."**_

"Caught by surprise," Luffy said, finding his feet again.

Jones wasn't looking at him, he was looking at the tree. "I finally did it, and I didn't even need Isonade to complete it."

"_**My blood was given to it,"**_ Kyuubi misled him. **_"Tell me more about this wonderful tree."_**

—oo000oo—

Tayuya didn't know what to make of what was going on. She ignored it and came to a blond. "You alive?"

"Leave me," he told her. "The roots have wrapped around my spinal cord."

Tayuya was silent for a moment. "Then I will release you." She raised her ax.

"No, not like that," he said with a grin. "I always wanted to go out with a bang. Open my shirt, princess." She did and saw a mouth that was shown shut. The string came undone. "There is a pouch with clay on my side. Grab all of it and put it in." She did. "It has been a while so it will take a few minutes. I am about to explode and turn this whole place to dust." Tayuya widened her eyes. "Better run, princess, yeah." Deidara grinned and leaned back and started counting.

She ran to the group of freed people. "We need to get the fuck out of here!" She started dragging who she could. Forget them, we need to go!"

"Men," Jones called. "Kill the boy, he is the biggest threat right now."

"You will stay away from Naruto," Hinata challenged.

"_**Vixen,"**_ Kyuubi said to her. **_"Hmm, I love your scent. Good choice boy. Get out of here, we will be fine." _**He waved his hand and she flew into the arms of Yugito. _**"Nibi, get them out of here. They will interrupt me."**_

"Naruto will be fine," Jiriaya shouted. "We won't be if we stay!" The ninja and Luffy retreated, most reluctantly.

Kyuubi stood there, blocking Jones from the tree while his men came closer. _**"I said everyone. Leave or die."**_ They didn't. One charged him and Kyuubi scoffed. He raised his hand and held it like he held something. The man started coughing and tried to grab what was holding his throat, choking him. **_"Fine."_** Lightning appeared on his finger tips and struck the seven men.

Jones let out a low whistle. "That was impressive. Tell me, what is that fruit's ability?"

"_**I control energy; ambient, kinetic, electrical, all of it. Everything has it so choking someone like that is nothing. And energy is lightning as well." **_Kyuubi looked at him and grinned. **_"Such power for a mortal, not many have. Let us see what all you can dodge."_** Kyuubi threw his hand out and a wave of energy rushed Jones. He ported to on of the branches and jumped up. His eyes on a fruit at the top. _**"You want something?"**_

"That one right there is my life's work," Jones told him. "_All_ of the Devil Fruit abilities reside inside it! And when I eat it, even Calypso will not challenge me!" Kyuubi looked at it and knew he couldn't let him get his hands on it. If, by some miracle, he was right and could eat it, the chance that even he could stop him was slim. He took a deep breath and screamed. The tree began to shake. Jones made his last jump and tried to grab it. But Kyuubi, taking a page from Naruto, had turned the earth to little more than quicksand. The tree fell over, throwing them clear. Kyuubi saw the fruit and ran for it. He got it first and crushed it. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT IT TOOK TO CREATE THAT!?"

"_**No, nor do I care." **_Kyuubi grabbed him by his collar and was ready to really start.

"Five...four...three...two...one... Art is a true blast, yeah," Deidara called, grabbing their attention.

—oo000oo—

Naruto shook his head. He felt like he had been watching someone else move. He looked around and saw he was in a tunnel. Both end had collapsed. And Jones was there with him. He was grabbed by the neck and pushed into the wall. "You son of a bitch! Everything I ever worked for, gone! All for you since of right and justice!"

"I did it," Naruto strained to say, "because you attacked me. You made yourself a target, it was only natural someone would come along to deal with you."

"I could have been the strongest being ever!" With each word he slammed Naruto into the wall again. "And for you to just come up and do this!? I will torture you for a thousand years!"

"Try it, scooter," Naruto told him. "Face it, even if you could kill me, you will never get your precious tree back." He was trying to make the right tune to get him to let go but with his hand on his throat, he couldn't. He saw Fuka-hone on the ground and reached for it. It moved a little before flying to his hand. "Sing, Fuka-hone." He struck the cords and it was the strongest thing he had ever played. Jones was completely thrown off him. Naruto hit the ground, coughing. He looked over and saw Jones getting back up. "Just die, damn it."

"Never."

Naruto, glaring at him, cut his hand on Fuka-hone. "I have never before summoned these but you leave me no choice, baka. Say hello to your play mates, Fuka-hone."he did a few handsigns and slammed his hand to the ground. There was smoke and an ogre stood there. "This is a dobi, a type of oni. Blind, they hunt by hearing and smell. Hello."

"_**So, you are the new summoner,"**_ it said to him. **_"How did you get the scroll from Orochimaru?"_**

"That snake left it," Naruto asked. "No matter, fight now, talk later." He began to play several notes, communicating where Jones was to the dobi. It took a breath and smiled. Before lunging forward with a sword. Jones jumped behind him, and Naruto changed tune. The dobi flipped his sword around and stabbed backwards. He ducked and jumped into the air, trying to get at its head. The dobi brought his sword up into the ceiling, piercing it. Water began to leak in from there. Then more than leak. Right then, he realized two things. Fuka-hone now sung with a voice that would haunt him until he died. And being as he just opened them to the ocean, that wouldn't be long. "Oto..."

—oo000oo—

Author's notes. Took a while, I know. Sorry but writing stories just got pushed back. Hope you enjoyed this. Port Port is just a made up fruit, like Oto Oto. It allows the eater to jump short or long distances at will. So long as he knows that place, he can appear anywhere. Inspired a little by the hirashin but mostly by the need to create an ability that can move him around the world in a short time.

Can't believe it, no? Sweet little Talon, big fricken dragon. Bahamat Zero, from Final Fantasy 7. I imagine one or two more chapters left now. Ja ne.


	28. Chapter 28

"Don't move," Naruto shouted. The dobi felt the water dripping down his sword and realized it. They were underwater. "How?"

"You held my shirt collar. I ported here so I could kill you." The dobi was no longer listening for directions from the instrument. He was looking right at him and slowly letting go of the sword. "And nothing you do will change it. Should I fall, however unlikely, you will not escape. I..." The dobi lunged at him and slammed his fist into Jones. He went for a second attack when Jones vanished and appeared behind him, delivering a spin kick to his head.

Naruto growled, none of his destructive jutsus could be used down here. His fingers began to pluck the strings as a genjutsu settled over Jones. To him, it appeared he was on the ocean floor. "Now!" Again the dobi lunged. He was about to crush Jones when he ported, grabbed the sword, and stabbed the oni in the back with it. "How?"

"By watching." The sword in his hands vanished and he frowned. "So, how should I go about killing you?"

Naruto slipped Fuka-hone onto his back. "You won't. If I come out of this or not, you will die!" Motioning it with his hands, a piece of rubble hit Jones from behind. Naruto then grabbed Davy Jones with is new ability and slammed him into the ground. He ran forward, jumped, grabbed him by his collar, and slammed him into the ceiling, cracking it more. Naruto placed a hand against the stone, focusing his chakra there to hold him steady. While he did, he spun and hit Jones' neck against the stone, gaining a painful crack. Naruto threw him back at the ground and hit him with a energy blast, throwing him into the wall and dropping rocks on him.

A punch from behind introduced him to that same wall. Jones grabbed him by his neck and hit him against the wall several times. "Geese, no matter how much damage I do, you just keep healing. I guess I need to do more." He spun Naruto around and had him watch him. He reached into his pouch and pulled out another devil fruit. "You may have destroyed my ultimate creation, boy, but I still have this. This is much the same, just only the paramecia abilities, including your Oto Oto and Gun Gun. I am going to eat this and tear you apart." He raised it to his mouth and took a bite.

—oo000oo—

The explosion that decimated the island knocked everyone down save Gaara, Talon, and Isonade. None of these three even cared about it. As Isonade and Gaara grappled, it seemed they had forgotten about the flying mercury dragon. She dived down on him, breaking him from his grip on her boyfriend, and charged up her breath weapon. Now, normal mercury dragons had two distance attacks. Their scales got so shiny that they could use bright light reflected off them to temporarily blind opponents. Their main attack, their breath weapon, was releasing a blast of charged light so intense that it could burn stone. But that took energy, she just couldn't do it whenever. And the more energy she saved for it, the stronger the attack or the more she had. And she had been saving it for three and a half years. Beams of light slipped from her mouth as she gathered it and shot it into Isonade. Even with the shell, the beam punched through it, the soft flesh inside, and the sea floor beneath. Blood enough to turn the water red fell, attracting sharks from a hundred leagues at least. She stopped, dug her talons into the broken shell and began to pull apart.

But Isonade refused to go down. He hit her with one of his claws and threw her off. He was charging up his own breath weapon when sand wrapped around his head, forcing his mouth shut. The energy blasted out the holes in his chest and shell, further injuring him. He fell to the ground and didn't move. Exhausted, Gaara collapsed on the beach and the sand fell from him. "Damn... Crap."

Isonade started to stir again and move around. Pain clouded his vision so he swung around, trying to find something to attack. He saw something black and he focused on it. Every Naruto clone on the Morning Song nearly shit themselves as the Three Tails looked at them.

—oo000oo—

Naruto hit Jones with a force blast and grabbed debris from all around him and made a barricade between him and Jones. He turned away, very afraid of what was about to happen. He had Kyuubi to force the two Devil Fruits to mix and co-exist. Davy Jones had no such thing. On the other side, Jones was laughing at the new feeling of power. But his laughs soon turned into pain as his body began to twist, some parts shortening or extending, shrinking or lengthening. "What is happening!?"

"You wanted it all," Naruto shouted. "Well, you got it! All of the wrath of the Sea Goddess Calypso!" Something hit the rock behind him and Naruto looked at it before he caught himself. Though he only looked an instant, what he saw burned into his mind forever. Jones had swollen up as all his abilities strained as if under pressure. And like all things under pressure, it exploded outwards and finished destroying the ceiling. Several tons of sea water flooded the tunnel. No longer having his abilities to keep them up, the rocks collapsed around him, pinning him against the wall. "SHIT," was all he got out before salt water covered his mouth as well. He strained against the rocks to free himself but had no luck. He was at least able to keep Fuka-hone from being crushed though. _'Sorry, looks like I won't be able to pass you along after all. At least I got to hear your true voice before them end. SHIT! I really am going to die here! I can't let it end this way!' _ He fought all the harder but just expended his air faster. After a few minutes, he couldn't hold it anymore as he let out a breath and was unable to keep from breathing in. He waited for the pain in his lungs...and waited...and waited. Naruto tried to say, "Hold the Ramen," but it came out garbled. He took another breath and it didn't hurt. _'What in the name of Kami's left tit is going on?'_ Fuka-hone played a warm sounding note before images flashed through his mind. He also felt her ask why the left tit? Why not the right? He shrugged, it was what came to mind.

—oo000oo—

"Naruto, that is Fuka-hone. Have you ever heard of the sword Samehada? It is a sword that is very much alive and only lets certain people wield it. This guitar is of the same make. She only let's certain people play her fully. What you have done today, is more than I have heard since I was a child. I want you to take her. And..."

She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. "And she will let you breath under water if you get her to reveal to you her true voice. And as she is also from the Pirate Ocean, I think she would have no one else."

—oo000oo—

Naruto nearly hit his forehead when he remember all that. He felt like such an idiot for forgetting. _'No need to hold back now then.'_ One of his more powerful jutsus began to form in his hand. He rarely used it as his sound attacks were more versatile but it had its moments. _'RASENGAN!'_ He blasted the rocks away and used his chakra to start swimming to the surface. It was while he was moving that he noticed there was a red cloud in the water not far away. Something moved behind him and he spun in place. His eyes widened when he saw a shark. It was almost thirty feet long. And the sides were just started to glow red. A Yasha Sakana shark, the same type that made the bone for Fuka-hone.

The shark swam at him and opened its mouth. Naruto waited the last moment then grabbed her nose and flipped on her back. Sliding down her body, he reached down for the fins on her side. He grabbed them and forced them to turn up.

—oo000oo—

Isonade shook his head to help clear it faster. Even now, the damage done to him was healing. His vision cleared some more and his eyes widened. 'ITS HER!' He still remembered that fight. Nothing he did to her worked. She just flew out of the way and hit him with her own attack. He even lost a limb in that battle. And here she was now! Between the dragon, Shukaku, and now her, he knew he could never win. He turned and ran, crushing the Death's Embrace under him as he did, while ramming into the bow of the Darkness Blade. Everyone looked at the retreating Bijuu and then at the Morning Song. While Talon smirked and looked at the Maiden.

"Hey, wasn't that blond fucking idiot on that island," Tayuya yelled.

Before they could even worry about that, a shark jumped into the air less than a hundred feet away. Naruto was on its back, laughing like a maniac. "Figures, we are fighting to save the world and he still has time to act like an idiot," Hakari said aboard the Evening Star.

—oo000oo—

Zolo clashed swords with the zanbatou. "Have to admit, you are good."

"Were you expecting otherwise," the owner replied.

He pushed hard against the three swords before suddenly falling back. Surprised, Zolo rolled and came to his feet, his swords at Haku's neck while his zanbatou at Zolo's. "Good spar. Man... You Mist swordsmen are something else. Swinging a monster like that around like it is nothing." After Isonade ran, the three pirate ships all turned on the remaining ship and decimated it. They were moored on the docks of Morose to repair. The hardest hit had been the Thousand Sunny as the other two were protected by the ice armor. But mast were still damaged by hits and such. It would take time to repair it all.

"It is what we do," Haku told him.

He spun his sword by the handle before flipping it onto his back. They were just about to head to lunch when they heard a water logged voice similar to Hakari's shout, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU MARRIED MY DAUGHTER!?" Glancing at each other, Haku and Zolo ran to the giant tent they set up to sleep and eat in. They about reached it when Sasuke ran out.

"Itachi, I swear I will give them all back to you, just keep him away from me!" He ran between the two swordsmen and away. Not a second later, a seven foot tall fishman came charging out, swords in hand, and Itachi trying to put a choke hold on him. An elbow to his head and he went flying off. Hakari came running after him, shouting about how he better not kill her husband. None of them noticed they ran over both Haku and Zolo. A few moments, and groans, later, Zabuza and Kisame pulled the two from the ground.

"You going to survive," Zabuza asked his apprentice.

"...Just as soon as my back is realigned."

"And you," Kisame asked Zolo.

"...I'm better. Good thing I don't have a giant sword or I would be in the same shape." He winced when he saw Zabuza pull Haku's sword from his back and then used chakra to grab his spine a little. It must have popped at least a dozen times. Haku widened his eyes and didn't move for several moments. Finally he said ow. "By the way, you got a name for that blade?" None noticed a person creeping up behind them. He reached a hand out and picked up the blade set on the ground.

"Where is she!?" He raised the weapon and leveled it to take their heads or chest from their bodies in one swing. "...Master Zabuza? Master Kisame?" He looked at Haku. "Runt? How the hell all three of you get here? Are you working for Jones?"

The three from Mist blinked in surprise. "Suigetsu," Haku asked. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"That is what I asked you," he said, handing his blade back.

"We came here to kill Jones actually," Zabuza told the junior swordsman before narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean 'she'? Who are you looking for?"

"Her name is Tayuya, Jones took her to feed his tree. What happened, I heard an explosion and I had to rush healing."

Kisame grinned. "You missed a hell of a battle, kiddo. Jones is deader than a doornail."

"I missed it," he asked, horrified. "FUCK! FUCK, FUCK, FUCK!"

Haku frowned, "Be glad that Talon was not here or else I would have to hurt you for scaring her."

Suigetsu stopped his fit and grinned at Haku. "Ah, the runt got himself a girlfriend."

"While I did, Talon is not her. She is the girlfriend of Sabaku no Gaara. Be glad it would be me hurting you instead of him. You would at least thaw after turning to ice. I doubt Gaara would be as kind."

"I get it, I get it. So, beat me to it, eh? What blade is that anyway? It's not one of the seven."

"It is called Trinity after a bond I made with two other orphans. A chakra blade too. Maybe if you join our crew, Naruto might get one made for you as well."

"Naruto? New leader? ...He has two of the seven and their apprentice working for him... He must be strong as hell, a real mother fucker. I would like to meet him."

"Someone talking about me," Naruto called as he walked over to get lunch. "...You one of Jones' men?"

"No, came here with Tayuya and been recovering. And no, short shit, I am talking about Naruto, not you."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Hmm, I think I heard of him. Seven feet tall. Yes, kills men by the hundreds. And if he was here, he would have fought Jones with fireballs from his eyes. And bolts of lightning from his ass." The other swordsmen were laughing like hell. "Really now, I am Uzumaki Naruto, Commodore and Captain of the Morning Song. Now, who are you?"

"Him, your a Leaf, hes a Leaf," he said, looking at the others as if what he said explained it all. "How can you work for a Leaf?"

Zabuza shrugged. "I had no trouble doing it. You Haku?"

"None."

"Kisame, you see anything wrong here?"

"Just the brat thinking he is stronger than the super brat," Kisame told him. "Trust me, Suigetsu, you don't want to question how strong he is."

Suigetsu scoffed. "Why?"

"Because, he is strong as hell and a real mean mother fucker," Haku quoted. "Naruto, this is Suigetsu, the brother of one of the other Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Suigetsu, this is Naruto, our captain."

"Hey," Naruto said with a wave as he walked over. "What was that shouting I heard?"

"Sasuke thought he was going to die so he had Heero marry him and Hakari," Kisame told him.

"And he just told her father, the one that finally got her back," Zabuza finished. Naruto again arched an eyebrow. He rubbed the back of his head and shrugged.

"Well, I hope he doesn't kill him, I would hate to be the one to tell his mother that he died because of an over protective father." He turned back to Suigetsu. "So, you were looking for Tayuya?"

"Yeah, where is she, I swore I would protect her."

"She is with the others taken from the tree, resting. I'll go show you." He turned and began walking away. Suigetsu followed. After several moments, he decided to see if he could get Fuka-hone off him and reached for it. Something grabbed his body and flung him into a stone, making him splat.

"What an idiot," Haku muttered.

"Haku," Naruto called back to him. "While he pulls himself back together, how about you find some clothes for him to wear."

—oo000oo—

Naruto and Suigetsu entered and found Luffy arguing with the man with one hand and a scar over his face. "Captain, what are you doing?"

"Hey Naruto, meet Crocodile."

"No way, the real one?"

"I am," the aging man told him. He growled at the pirate. "I should kill you for what you did to me."

"Do that and I would have to turn you into a glass statue," Naruto told him. "Suigetsu, meet Luffy, the King of the Pirates."

"Yo," Luffy said, raising a hand. "You should have seen it, he pissed the red off and she stabbed a bone spike into his crotch." The men there winced.

"Sounds like Tayuya," Suigetsu muttered. "...But he isn't bleeding."

"I am made up of sand," Crocodile told him. "Now, name one reason I shouldn't kill all of you?"

"How about because the reason you are still part of that tree is because of Luffy and I," Naruto told him. "Now, once repairs are done, we are leaving. You can stay on this island and rot or come with us pirates." He looked around and saw Tayuya. "Over here, lets go."

—oo000oo—

A month later

—oo000oo—

The Morning Song pulled into Murasaki, the largest village in the Land of Waves. "Weigh anchor," Naruto said, grinning as he looked at the prosperous village. "Tie down the sails and prepare to go ashore." Haku and Zabuza gave a cheer at that. Naruto looked up at their flag. "...My last orders...Lower the colors!" They all stopped what they were doing as Sasuke went to the mast and pulled it down.

"Hakari-chan, can you help me fold this?" She nodded and grabbed the end. They folded it in half, long ways, and did again. Sasuke then proceeded to fold it into a triangle. With a nod of thanks, he took it to Naruto. "...Captain, the flag."

Naruto took it, already feeling something missing. But at the same time, overjoyed. Sasuke had never called him Captain before. He nodded his thanks and looked at the crew. So many more than they and the Morning Song started with. Not far away, the Evening Star pulled into the harbor and behind it the Thousand Sunny. "So, Crocodile, what are you and the others going to do now?" He turned to look at the man.

"...I'm too old to raise more trouble if that is what you mean. And from the stories I heard along the way, better to find a village and join it than fight them. Though I won't like it, being lead instead of leading."

"Go with Gaara, Temari, Kankuro, Baki and Talon then," Naruto told him. He turned back to those waiting. "Last call, all ashore!"

"You heard the captain, get off the ship," Hakari growled out, making everyone scramble to get off.

Naruto was the last on board. He walked up to the stern and looked at the Maiden. The figure head never looked prouder to him. She had finally delivered them home. Taking off his wide brim hat, he removed the headband and put it back on his head. "Milady, I must wish you fair well. I fear this is the last we shall see of each other. But you will be in good hands." He gave her a crisp salute, spun on his heels, and walked off the ship as proud as he could. He had been the captain of one of the greatest ships on the Grand Line. He would show her nothing but the pride at being that.

Naruto went up to Tazuna's home and knocked. "Hello... I know you, don't I," Tsunami asked. "Naruto?"

He grinned. "I change that much?"

She hugged him. "How have you been!? Yes, you have changed a lot. Almost none of your baby fat is there anymore. Your skin has tanned to almost a rich leather and your hair is almost white."

"I've been at sea. In fact, I just pulled into port with my ship. I need to ask Tazuna a big favor."

"Come on in," she said, pulling him in. "I'll go get him. Inari, someone is here you should meet!"

"Who... Naruto-niisan!" The boy jumped on him, almost knocking him over. Naruto grunted at the sword digging into his hip. "You're back from your adventure, right? To the Grand Line?"

"Yeah. I'll tell you all about it while we wait for your grandfather."

—oo000oo—

"...I came to the surface to find the Thousand Sunny had fired its main gun and it was launched back up the mountain," Naruto said excitedly. "But the other ship was destroyed. And..."

"Hey kiddo," Tazuna said, coming in.

"Tazuna-san," Naruto said, standing up. "How have you been?"

"I'm good," he said with a laugh. "So you learned some manners while you were gone? Good, good. Now, what can I help you with?"

"There is a new ship in the harbor, no doubt you have noticed her. I need the Morning Song taken care of until I can find someone to take her back on adventures again."

"So that is your ship," he said, rubbing his chin. "Alright. But..."

"If you are worried about the cost for keeping her there, I will cover it," Naruto said. He took a bag from his pouch. It clinked with the sound of gold coins hitting each other as Naruto tossed them to him. "That will keep her there and maintenance for a year."

"No," Tazuna said, tossing it back. "When I tell the Harbor Master who's ship that is, he will let it stay. I was going to say, why not keep her?"

"...I am the ninja of the Leaf," Naruto said, without the enthusiasm he once had. "So I must returned to my home."

Tazuna nodded. "I will make sure she is well cared for."

Naruto nodded his thanks. "The Maiden doesn't deserve to just wait at a dock for when Konoha needs her. She should be with her crew out on the ocean."

"And a crew with their ship," Tazuna muttered. "Oh, after you left, Inari wanted to learn to use a sword. So that what happened would never happen again."

"The sword that protects," Inari replied.

Naruto smiled and rubbed his head. "Good choice, emo."

—oo000oo—

Team Seven, Jiriaya, Yugito, Zabuza, and Haku walked into the Hokage Tower and up to the desk of the Hokage's assistant. But it wasn't Rin. "Hello," Naruto asked.

A black haired woman looked at them. "Hello, can I help you?"

"...What happened to Rin? Was she hurt?"

"Rin? She hasn't been the assistant in almost six months. I am Shizune."

"Oh...Uh, we are... Sorry, Anko-chan, you are leader again." Naruto moved back.

"I am, aren't I? Team Seven, returning, mission accomplished."

"We have a Team Seven?" She looked at the roster. "We have a team seven, away on mission." She looked up at them and smiled. "Hello Jiriaya-san. Tsunade was wondering where you were."

"Tsu-hime," Jiriaya asked. "Oh yeah, you are her apprentice."

"Well, go on in and give your report," Shizune told them.

Naruto entered and was about to shout, "Hey Ojii-san!" But what he said was, "Baa-chan? What are you doing sitting in the Old Man's chair?"

She looked up from her cursed paperwork and scowled. "Don't call me Baa... NARUTO!" She leaked over her desk and gave him a hug. "Where have you been, gaki!?"

"Spine...crushing...sight...leaving...death...coming..." She dropped him and Naruto popped his back into place. "Missed you, Baa-chan... So you are the Hokage now?"

"I am, don't know why I ever took it. So, everything go well?"

"It did," Anko told her. "I already drafted up the report." She gave her a scroll.

Tsunade looked it over. "Very good... You are dismissed then. If I have any questions, I will call for you. And you have the month off to adjust yourselves to Konoha again."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," they all said before leaving except Naruto and Jiriaya. Naruto hugged her again. "Missed you, Baa-chan."

"Missed you too gaki. So, has he told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Naruto, remember what I said about Kushina, the wife of the Fourth," Jiriaya reminded.

"That you would tell me later more. What about her?"

Tsunade sighed a little. "Naruto, her name was Uzumaki Kushina, you are her son."

"My mom was Mikoto's teammate? MY FATHER WAS THE FOURTH HOKAGE!?"

"Yes," Tsunade said, rubbing her ears to restore her hearing. "Don't do that again."

"Sorry...just... I wasn't I told?"

"Naruto, everything in ten miles just heard you shout that," Jiriaya told him. He motioned to the shattered windows. "You weren't told because one, no one knew they had married. Two, your father had very dangerous enemies. Plus, he did want you to grow up arrogant like the Uchiha or Hyuuga were at the time."

"...That I understand. Speaking of the Hyuuga, how are they? They have been a long time without their clan heir and Hiashi."

"It was sad, the elders lost control when, some how, the seal on the foreheads of Hyuuga Neji somehow canceled," Tsunade said, faking her regret. "The elders tried to replace it when the branch family went ballistic. They wouldn't let it happen. Sadly the elders decided to use the seal and almost killed them. They did kill one of the children though." That time she was sad. "More would have died had I not sent ANBU in there and kill the aggressors. Imagine my surprise that it was the elders."

"So who runs the clan? And how did Neji lose it?"

"It is a council of new elders, made up of branch and main family members. Under the oath to give the leadership position to Hinata or Hanabi when she came of age. The first thing they did was remove all the seals. As for Neji...he was looking around in Hiashi's old study when he came across a certain scroll...and talked to me..." Her grin told the rest of the story. "Now go on, I am sure you have a lot to think about."

—oo000oo—

A week had gone by and all of Konoha knew that Naruto had returned. Because he had been determine to make up the pranks lost to the year at sea. The Fifth Hokage was actually losing her patience with him. But Tsunade found it in her to keep forgiving him because of Jiriaya. And also because he quickly slowed down.

Naruto was swinging from a hammock he had hung in his home, trying to get to sleep. But the rocking was missing. He was grateful that someone knocked on his door. Opening it, he saw it was Sarutobi. "Jii-san!" He threw himself on the aged Third.

"Hey, hey, come on now, I'm old."

"Bilge, just a year older," Naruto said, meaning he was speaking bullshit.

"True. Come on, Naruto, lets go get something to eat. Icharuka is having a special on ramen."

Naruto shook his head. He had been dreaming of ramen but now... "How about we stay here and eat. I have some light wine and real good jerky."

Sarutobi blinked but grinned after a second. That was the meal while at sea. Wine can't spoil and the jerky last a long time. "That does sound good. Some tea would be perfect as well. I actually brought you a tea set and leaves as a welcome back gift." He gave him the scroll of the sealed items.

—oo000oo—

"That sounds like it was one great adventure," Sarutobi said to Naruto as he took another drink of the wine. "But at least this 'Davy Jones' and his Blood Tree is destroyed."

"Yes," Naruto nodded. "Those fruits are better off at the bottom of the ocean in the real Davy Jones' locker."

"...Naruto, what is wrong? I have never seen you like this before... Is it because I let my apprentice Tsunade become Hokage?"

"No... Well, it is a little. But I don't think I want to be Hokage anymore. Make Baa-chan give the title to Konohamaru when he is ready. I've been leader. Once is enough. And I still remember all the paper work you had to do, Jii-san."

He nodded. "Is that all, Naruto?"

"...Yes, that is. Though I am worried about my ship. ...It is too quiet in here." He took a disc and put it in his CD player. "You know, with technology, we are way ahead of the world. But with weapons, we are the least. Look at this." The music that came out wasn't music at all but the sounds that came from being at sea.

Naruto handed Sarutobi his pistol. "That came from the farthest reaches of the North Blue. I have to make the projectiles myself because it is a type only they use. This here," Naruto pulled out the cylinder, "holds seven rounds of the fastest moving things I have ever seen." He spun the cylinder and flipped his wrist, making it go back in the body. He handed it to him. "It is empty so it won't fire."

Sarutobi looked at it and wondered about it. This could be both good and bad for ninja. "Is this in your reports?"

"No," Naruto said. "Enough die because of us. The new and more dangerous weapons we have found will stay up here," he tapped his head, "no where else. And you will never get that to work. No rounds and a part is missing."

Sarutobi nodded. "What could these do?"

"...Hinata became our sniper. She was able to kill a person with her rifle at a nautical mile."

"By Kami..."

"None of the others have their weapons in their reports and they no longer work as well without the parts I keep." He didn't even glance at the seal tattooed on his arm. "And there is more edits to it."

"What else?"

"We met Itachi... I won't tell you how it went but we met him and his partner. We also had a run in with ninja from the Hidden Sand Village."

"I received a report that the Kazekage died recently of an accident, just two days ago in fact."

"That is too bad," Naruto said without emotion.

Sarutobi nodded, Naruto still knew more but he didn't doubt that he would get no more. "You know Naruto, something the Second told me once. It is okay to do what you want to do. Until it comes time to do what you were meant to do."

"Which is why I am here now," Naruto said off hand.

"Is it?" Naruto looked up at him to find he had finished his tea and wine and was getting up to leave. "I am glad I talked to you. I was wondering what was wrong. Naruto, sleep well."

—oo000oo—

"Lads, lets go," one of the masked men said. They ran from shadow to shadow, never being seen, and reached the gate in minutes. They were expecting to have to do something to distract the guards as the gate had been closed for the night but no one was there. Taking their chance, they all ran.

"I knew you would," an aged voice said. "You couldn't take it, I could tell when we spoke." Sarutobi stepped out of the shadows, he was in his combat armor. "The land is too calm for your soul."

"Please, Jii-san, let me go," Naruto said. His clones, all of them carrying sealing scrolls with whatever they could get. "I need to head back."

"You misunderstand, Naruto," Sarutobi said. "A ninja must always go into new adventures ready for anything." He stepped farther out and Naruto saw he had a large scroll on his back as well. "I think I still got enough in me for a few more years."

"I would be glad to have you," Naruto said with a smile. "It would be sad to just go myself. I wish everyone could come with us but I know they are needed here." Sarutobi nodded, Naruto had grown up while he was away.

—oo000oo—

"Jii-san, for now, just watch and learn," a Naruto clone said to him. They were aboard the Morning Song. "In time, you will get the gist of what the terms and actions mean." He had been on the ship for all of ten minutes and already he felt better. "Do you think they will miss us? Or that they have noticed that we are gone?"

"Who noticed," came a voice from his usual position of leaning on the mast. Zabuza lifted his head. "I was expecting you here the second night."

"I checked the cargo hold, Naruto," Haku said. "We are free of rats."

"What are you two doing here," Naruto asked.

"Where do we have to go? We were already planning on sailing back out with the Maiden again," Zabuza explained. He took the place of one of the clones, pulling the riggings loose so they could be adjusted.

"I have also checked the scrolls," Haku said. "They all remain undamaged and ready to use. The cannons are clean of rust and your room is even ready."

"But..."

"That is the captain's quarters," Haku said, giving no room for argument. "You got away with it last time but not this time. You hold the position so you hold the room. And put on your damn hat, you look ridiculous."

Naruto grinned before taking his headband off and replacing it around his hat. "Fine. But I am still sleeping on a hammock."

"Knew that was coming, dobe," came from the crow's nest. They looked up and saw Sasuke looking over the railing.

"Sasuke, no," Naruto yelled. "A year from your family is long enough! We may never come back!"

"Then it is a good thing we came with," Mikoto said, from the door to the sleeping quarters. "Kushina couldn't stand the thought of being without her brothers and me my children."

The little girl came running out from behind her mother and jumped on Naruto. "Are you going to play my song for me?"

Naruto opened his mouth and closed it several times. "Haku, give them my..."

"We already have a room set up for them," Haku told him. "This ship was meant to hold a hundred men, we can spare the room for a woman and her children. Isn't that right, Quarter's Master?"

Itachi, without the cloak and back in his old ANBU armor stepped out of the far door. "There is more than enough room to give everyone that much space."

He was pushed out of the way. "Pull your weight," Kisame said, as he went to the dock, grabbed wooden planks, and sealed them in a scroll. Fuka-hone sang at seeing Samehada and the sword returned the feeling.

A snake wrapped itself around Naruto's neck. He looked down and he saw it was Nebi-chan. "We wouldn't miss this for the world. The hard part was dragging Iruka from his home," Anko said.

"I never would have believed it," Iruka said, taking Naruto's hat off and rubbing his hair. "Captain Uzumaki Naruto."

"I...I... Haku, what about Temari!?"

"What about me," she asked from the dock. She was there with both of her brothers and Baki.

"There isn't a chance of a snow ball in Suna of you leaving us behind," Kankuro stated.

Gaara grinned, "I believe I prefer the open sea anyway. To hear Shukaku groan about it is worth it."

Talon, beside him and hugging his arm, shrugged, "I couldn't sleep."

"...Take your positions then," Naruto yelled. "To you new comers, this is my ship and things go my way or they go the short walk and a wet stop! You got a week to learn how to pull your share of the work!"

A gentle hand was placed on his shoulder. "Anko decided to take me as well," Rin said, "Captain."

"Jiriaya couldn't come with us," Anko said. "He had things he needed to do. But he expects us to stop by sometime next year and pick his perverted ass up." Mikoto glared at her for saying that in front of Kushina.

The First mate smiled before turning to everyone just standing there. "You heard him, get to work," Hakari yelled.

"Itachi," Naruto called, taking the ammo out of his left arm seal. "Return these to the armory. And give these to their proper owner," Naruto gave him the firing pins.

"Aye, aye, sir."

"Hinata, get ready," Yugito said from the yard arm. They both had ropes in their hands. They jumped off and all the lines keeping the main sail tied came undone. They landed on the deck and smiled at Naruto.

"Hyuuga Hinata, reporting in," Hinata said.

"Nii Yugito, reporting in."

"Hinata...what about the Hyuuga clan?"

"They have been doing well without me this last year, they will continue well without me. Hanabi will make a better leader anyway. I prefer this life to her new one."

"Hinata, am I doing this right," Neji asked, securing a rope. She went to help him.

"Just how many stow aways did you all bring aboard," Naruto demanded.

"Well, there is me," Sakura said as she stepped on the ship from the dock. "I'm not as good as Haku yet but I am working to become a medical ninja."

He sighed. "...Fine. Kisame, did you and Itachi get the trade goods? After all, nothing seems to sell better than saki on the Grand Line," He said as he went over and pulled an orange from the trees.

"Two hundred bottles to sell, the better stuff for us," he said with a grin. "And I happened to have found a use for the bones of that Giant Catfish. Sold those for a pretty penny. Gold coin, of course."

"Is that everybody? No more surprises?" Everyone shook their heads. "Then..."

"WAIT!" Inari was running up the dock. "Nii-san, let me come with you!"

"Sorry, Inari," Sasuke called down to him.

"He is right, Inari," Naruto said. "You can't come yet."

"But..."

"I said yet," Naruto told him. "Learn to use that sword and I will find a place for you on the Morning Song."

Inari was quiet for a moment. "Just you wait! I will have a Heron Blade when you come back and you will have to beg me to join your crew!"

Zabuza laughed. "You, a swords master!? Prove it!" He pulled the Zanbatou from his back and held it for him to see. A heron was above the handle. "The day you have that, I will teach you to have one like this!"

Inari pointed at him "You are on!" He ran to his master's dojo. He would earn it and make him eat those words!

"Ahem, as I was saying... Raise..."

"Naruto," Yugito said, tapping her foot. "You are forgetting something."

"What," he asked. She smiled and pointed to the unusually empty spot. "Oh..." He pulled the flag from his coat. Hinata and Yugito took it, went to the mast, and carefully unfolded it. "...The sea be ours, and by the powers. Where we will, we roam."

The crew that had been with him started singing with him while they pulled the flag up. "Yo ho, all hands, hoist the colors high. Heave ho, thief and beggar, never shall we die." It reached the top and the wind unfurled it. The Jolly Rogers wearing the Konoha headband was once again laughing at the world.

"...Raise anchor," Naruto called. They ran to their places as Hakari and Kisame pulled it up. "Mister Hyuuga," Naruto said, turning to Hinata's cousin. Neji wasn't sure what to do. "Name the heading." Neji looked around like he hadn't heard him right and pointed to his chest. "Of course you! Name the heading and we will go there!"

Neji smiled after a moment. He looked up at the moon to get his bearings. And he realize that none of them cared. They were just setting sail. In the end, it didn't matter where they were going, just so long as they went. "...Second star to the right and straight on until morning."

Naruto grinned, he learned fast. "Take the helm, Zabuza."

"And you will be?"

"I haven't slept in a week," Naruto told him.

"Mister Uzumaki," Yugito said from the door to his room with Hinata next to her.

"We will speak to you inside your quarters right now," Hinata said to him. They both went in, saying there would be no discussion about it.

Naruto snapped to attention. "Aye, aye ladies!" He ran after them with a grin on his face while Zabuza made the sound of the crack of a whip. A moment later, Suigetsu and Tayuya climbed aboard.

"We miss anything," he asked.

Tayuya slammed a fist down on his head. "He made us late, sorry. Fucking baka." A moment later, Mikoto grabbed her ear.

"You speak like that again, I will wash your mouth out with soap," the older woman growled.

"Bitch!" Mikoto dragged her below deck, kicking and screaming.

Hakari looked after them and then the crew. "What are you waiting for? SET SAIL!"

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes: Ice Hot Hilda, Gold Rogers, history looks on people that shook the world around them with awe and respect, always giving them names that describe them for who they were. What name awaits our heroes in the future? Well, only time can tell that.

LOL! Got that from the ending of Outlaw Star, changed it a little to match. Nothing but the epilogue left. Won't be long though.


	29. Epilogue

"I, I'm driving black on black. Just got my license back. I got this feeling in my veins, this train is coming off the track. I'll ask polite if the devil needs a ride because the angel on my right ain't hanging out with me tonight! I'm driving past your house while you were sneaking out, I got the car door opened up so you can jump in on the run. Your mom don't know that you were missing. She'd be pissed if she could see the parts of you that I've been kissing!

"Screamin' no, we're never gonna quit! Ain't nothing wrong with it! Just acting like we're animals! No, no matter where we go ! 'Cause everybody knows we're just a couple of animals! So come on baby, get in! Get in, just get in! Check out the trouble we're in!

"You're beside me on the seat. Got your hand between my knees and you control how fast we go by just how hard you wanna squeeze. It's hard to steer when you're breathing in my ear but I got both hands on the wheel while you got both hands on my gears! By now, no doubt that we were heading south. I guess nobody ever taught her not to speak with a full mouth. 'Cause this was it, like flicking on a switch. It felt so good I almost drove into the ditch

"I'm screamin' no, we're never gonna quit! Ain't nothing wrong with it! Just acting like we're animals! No, no matter where we go ! 'Cause everybody knows we're just a couple of animals! So come on baby, get in! Get in, just get in! Check out the trouble we're in!

"We were parked out by the tracks, we're sitting in the back, and we just started getting busy when she whispered 'what was that?' The wind, I think 'cause no one else knows where we are and that was when she started screamin' 'That's my dad outside the car!' Oh please, the keys, they're not in the ignition, must have wound up on the floor while we were switching our positions. I guess they knew that she was missing as I tried to tell her dad it was her mouth that I was kissing

"Screamin' no, we're never gonna quit! Ain't nothing wrong with it! Just acting like we're animals! No, no matter where we go ! 'Cause everybody knows we're just a couple of animals! So come on baby, get in! Get in, just get in! Check out the trouble we're in!"

The band finished and the announcer walked back out on stage. "Give it up for Nickleback! Now, I know you are all excited about this years tournament, am I right!?" Everyone started shouting they were. "And why shouldn't you be!? Nickleback, Metallica, even Flogging Molly! All of them are here this year, at the Black Hills Music Festival! But why!? You want to know know why? For the same reason all of you are here! Here he is, the one man band, the player of _the_ Fuka-hone, Uzumaki...NNNNNARUTO!" He was gone in a flash of smoke and Naruto was there now.

Naruto gave a bow to the wild crowd. "I got one for you! But this one isn't like that one. This is one I have been working on for a while now. Inspired by the people around me during my travels, especially a lady name Talinth and her husband Zavala. I need a hand for this one. Yugito, come on out!"

The former Kumo ninja walked out on stage wearing a white dress. "Yes, Naruto."

"I need a partner for this one. Help me out please?" There were hundreds of cheers for her to do it.

"Alright. What is it?"

"The song is called, 'Seven Spanish Angels'." He cleared his throat and started playing slowly. **"He looked down into her brown eyes and said say a prayer for me. She threw her arms around him. Whispered God will keep us free. They could here the riders coming. He said this is my last fight. If they take me back to Texas, they won't take me back alive."**

"_**There were seven Spanish angels at the alter of the Sun. They were praying for the lovers in the valley of the gun. When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared, there was thunder from the throne. And seven Spanish angels took another angel home,"**_ they sang together.

Yugito took a deep breath before continuing. _"She reached down and picked the gun up that lay smoking in his hand. She said father please forgive me but I can't make it without my man. And she knew the gun was empty and she knew she could not win. But her final prayer was answered when the rifles fired again."_

"_**There were seven Spanish angels at the Alter of the Sun. They were praying for the lovers in the Valley of the Gun. When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared, there was thunder from the throne. And seven Spanish angels took another angel home. Yeah, there were seven Spanish angels at the alter of the Sun. They were praying for the lovers in the valley of the gun. When the battle stopped and the smoke cleared, there was thunder from the throne. And seven Spanish angels took another angel home."**_

Naruto took a long look at the crowd as he finished before making six clones as Yugito walked off the stage. "Thank you! Now, I'm going to finished this by announcing the next band, the singers of one of my favorite songs, Flogging Molly! So, in the words of a Marine friend of mine, 'Time to let loose! Nothing can stop us now! When the music starts kickin', you're gonna dance 'til you drop! One...Two...Oto Oto Rush!" All seven Naruto used the Kawarimi and Flogging Molly took his place.

"Wow, he really did it," the lead singer stated. "Sail away where no ball and chain can keep us from the roarin' waves, together undivided, but forever we'll be free! Sail away aboard our rig, the moon is full and so are we! Seven drunken pirates, we're the seven deadly sins!"

—oo000oo—

"Anko-chan, set sail," Naruto called up ahead to where the Morning Song was moored. He was running to the ship, being chased by a group of rabid fans again. Only this time he was laughing his head off. When he reached the end of the dock, the Morning Song twenty feet away, he jumped and caught a rope thrown to him. He swung around and landed on the side of the hull. "Ladies, you will forever remember this as the day you _almost_ caught Captain Uzumaki Nar..." A wave hit the side of the Morning Song, soaking him to the bone. "...Uto."

He climbed up top, took off his hat, and shook the water from his hair. "You and your pranks," Sarutobi muttered.

"It's who I am, what can you do. Itachi, did you make the sale?"

"Of course. Got ten percent more than expected."

"Awesome. Anko-chan, how went the recruitment?"

"Three dozen more sailors have signed on to the to man the Defiant. She will have a full crew at next port."

"Good, good. Hakari, did you meet with the mermaids and fishmen?"

"I did. Chou says its good to here from us and Pocky said he will work with us as well as several others."

"More good news," Naruto said before walking to the railing and looking at the Defiant. He, with the help of Kisame, Zabuza, Haku, and Hakari, had stolen the design of the Truth and Reconciliation and made a new ship from it. The result, the Defiant, the fifth ship in the Konoha Mercenaries. All the ships had a steam engine now to keep her moving when the wind died. "Any word from Heero?"

"The Enterprise has been fully manned and they sail back to Morose Ilse."

"That makes six now," Naruto said with a grin. "Who is the next client by the way?"

"The Government sent us a mission request to hunt down and capture the King of the Pirates."

"Deny it."

"Already did.

Naruto stretched. "Well, set sail for..." He took out his chart, looked at it, and said, "Texas, lets go get some Kiowa among our fleet. But first, bring forth the prisoner!" Yugito grinned as Jiriaya walked out with a dark skinned man taller than him, with sunglasses and a horn tattoo on his cheek. "Mister Bii, have ye any last words before we make ye walk?"

Bii Kira just put a finger in his ear, cleaned it out, and said, "Bring it, kiddo."

"Very well, extend the plank!" Motoko put a boot to it and pushed it out. "Raise it." A hat was put on a hook and put out over the water. "Get the hat, ye scurvy cur." Naruto couldn't help but laugh as he walked out on it to the end and found it was out of his reach. Taking a deep breath, he jumped up, grabbed it, and fell back to the board. He almost lost his balance but he righted himself. "Well done, well done. Yugito-chan, would you do the honors?"

"I would be happy to." She walked to the plank. "Hey Kira, this is for making me the butt of all those jokes!" She threw the release lever and the back brace for the plank dropped away, making the plank and Kira fall into the ocean.

Naruto walked to the railing at the sputtering and cursing jinchuuriki of the eight tails. "Congratulations, you are now an officer of the Konoha Mercenaries. Get your arse back aboard!" He walked over to the wheel and Hinata a kiss on the cheek. "Texas, love."

"Aye aye, captain," she said before she reached for the Eternal Log for the island. She set it in place, returned the kiss to Naruto, and spun the wheel. The ship turned and now was heading to their next destination. Naruto smirked as he took account of all those now part of the crew. Aside from himself, Gaara, and Yugito, there were three jinchuuriki aboard. Kira, Seto of the Gobi, and Roshi for the Yonbi. Two more and he would have the complete set. Speaking of Gaara, he looked up and saw him there at the crow's nest with Talon. He found himself humming a tune and said, "A pirates life for me."

—oo000oo—

Credits.

(Inset theme from Pirates of the Caribbean)

—oo000oo—

Seven Deadly Sins-Flogging Molly

Shiver My Timbers-Muppets Treasure Island

Leader of the Pack-Twisted Sister

—oo000oo—

"Alright, Scene 'Convincing Talon' Version 1, take 1," Foxcomm called. "Action."

"A pirates life a wonderful life, especially for me! Here, here, a buccaneer, a pirate's life for...WHOA!" One of them tripped and the others followed suit.

"Cut, cut," Foxcomm groaned. "Come on, Ashram, get this right."

—oo000oo—

Who let the Dogs out-Baha men

Devil went down to Georgia-Charlie Danials Band

Eldorado-Edgar Allan Poe

One Woman Man-Johnny Horton

Lost Highway-Johhny Horton

Johnny I hardly Knew Ye-Dropkick Murphy (Don't know who sang it first)

—oo000oo—

"Convincing Talon, Take 2, version 2. Action."

"Why should I trust you," Talon asked Ashram and him men.

"Why, because we're your friends." The pirates started singing together. "We're your friends. We're your friends. We're your friends to the bitter end, the bitter end.

"When you're alone, you're alone, who comes around, who comes around, to pluck you up when you are down? When you are down. And when you're outside looking in who's there to open the door? That's what friends are for! Who's always eager to extend a friendly claw? That's what friends are for!

"And when your lost, in dire need, who's at your side at lightning speed? We're friends of every creature coming down the pike. You know we never met a person we didn't like!" A ball of sand hit them and bowled them over.

"I am here to take Talon back," Gaara told them.

"And...cut," Foxcomm shouted. "Good job everyone! On to the next version."

—oo000oo—

For the love of a Girl-Johnny Horton

Hoist the Colors-Pirates of the Caribbean

Wanted: Dead or Alive-Bon Jovi

I'm gonna miss her-Brad Paisly

Wild West Show-Big and Rick

Run Around-Jason Raford

Dualing Banjos-Deliverance

—oo000oo—

"And cut," Foxcomm called. "Thank you, Melfena, that was beautiful."

She giggled a little, "Thank you. Have a good day, Foxcomm-san." She walked off the stage.

"Okay, next is...Sylvanas Windrunner. Okay, let's get this one done in one try as well. Scene: Opening music festival, version 2, take 1. And action!"

Sylvanas took a deep breath before singing. "Anar'alah, Anar'alah belore, Sin'dorei. Shindu fallah na Sin'dorei. Anar'alah, shindu Sin'dorei. Shindu fallah na, Sin'dorei. Anar'alah belore. Shindu Sin'dorei. Shindu fallah na Sin'dorei. Anar'alah belore. Belore."

"And cut," Foxcomm said when she finished. "Hmm..."

"Well," Sylvanas asked.

"...You have a lovely voice, Sylvanas, you do. But I just don't think this will fit in this one."

"What!?"

"Well, this is a One Piece/Naruto crossover, not Naruto/Warcraft. How could I explain you being here?"

"How are you going to explain Melfena from Outlaw Star being here," she countered.

"...Good point. But I still don't think it will work. I do know where though. I'll make a call to a friend of mine, 1sniperwolf. He will gladly put that song in his."

Sylvanas sighed. "Freakin great, my one chance to take a vacation from Warcraft for a while gone."

"I am sorry," Foxcomm told her. "If I ever try a Naruto/Warcraft, you will be the first to know."

"You better tell me first!" At this, Foxcomm was surrounded by banshees ready to kill him.

Sweating bullets, he replied, "S-Sure... I pr-promise."

—oo000oo—

Convoy-C.W. McCall

Jutte's Mark the Tides-original

What Shall we do with a Drunken Sailor

On My Way-Phil Collins

Nearer my God to thee-Titanic

Melfena's lullaby-Outlaw Star

Enter Sandman-Metalica

Through the Fire and Flames-Dragonforce

When the Sun Goes Down-Kenny Chesney

Ain't no Sunshine-Bill Withers

—oo000oo—

Naruto ran for the end of the dock, going over his lines. _'This is the day you almost caught Captain Uzumaki Naruto...'_ He should have been paying attention because he stumbled when his boot caught an uneven stone. "Whoa!" He was tackled from behind by one of the girls.

"Hey, I caught him!"

"CUT! Damn it, Naruto, pay attention!

—oo000oo—

Two Perfect Girls for me-Pokemon

Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger-Daft Punk

Caramelldansen-Caramell

Look at me Now-Sixwire

Jack o' Shadows-Robert Jordan (Rest in Peace)

Beer for my Horses-Toby Keith, Willy Nelson

Raw Hide-Rawhide the TV show

Professional Pirate-Muppets Treasure Island

Whiskey in a Jar-Metalica

In Time-Mark Collie

Life is like a Boat-Bleach

Just to be Your Man-Josh Turner

If Everyone Cared-Nickleback

Welcome to the Black Parade-My Chemical Romance

Animals-Nickleback

Seven Spanish Angels-Willy Nelson, Ray Charles

A Pirates Life's a Wonderful Life-Peter Pan

We're your friends-Jungle Book

Lament of the Highborne-Sylvana Windrunner (World of Warcraft)

Pirates Life for Me-Pirates of the Caribbean

—oo000oo—

Author's Notes. Here it is, the epilogue in all it's glory. Almost took a year to finish but it was worth it in my opinion. I'm glad to have done it. Looks like Naruto is on top of the world now. Special thanks to all those that have followed me from the beginning. Ja ne.

—oo000oo—

…

_What are you still doing reading?_

…

_The story is over._

…

_Fine, just a bit more._

—oo000oo—

Madara appeared on a cliff overlooking the ocean. "We pillage and plunder, rifle and loot, drink up me hearties yo ho! We kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, drink up me hearties, yo ho!" He looked around a little bit more. "We extort, we pilfer, we filch and sack, drink up me hearties yo ho! Maraud, embezzle and even high jack, drink up me hearties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho! A pirates life for me."

"Toby, enough," Pain said before standing beside him.

"Ah, Tobi is a good boy."

"Now is not the time, Madara-sama," Kohan told him. "Itachi, Kisame, Kakuzu, and Sasori, all gone. All that is left is us and Zetsu."

Madara looked at them and back out to the water. "They can run as far as they wish. I will not be denied what is mine," he growled, his Sharigan spinning behind his mask.

—oo000oo—

_**The End**_


End file.
